Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver DeSean Jackson apologized on Tuesday for promoting an antisemitic conspiracy theory about Jews attributed to Nazi leader Adolf Hitler.
“I just want to first off extend an apology on behalf of me and what I stand for because I’m one that’s fair. I never want to put any race down or any people down,” the 33-year-old said to his 1.4 million followers in an Instagram video. “My posts were not intended for anybody, of any race, to feel any type of way, especially the Jewish community. When I posted what I posted I definitely didn’t mean it to the extent that you guys took it. I just want to let you guys know that I am very apologetic.”
Jackson’s apology was in regards to a post he had uploaded on his Instagram Story on Monday. He shared a page from a book that had a highlighted passage in which Hitler was said to have claimed Jews “blackmail” America.
The passage from the book The Hidden Treasure That Lies in Plain Sight 4: The Day of the Lord and the End of America states: “Hitler said, ‘because the white Jews knows [sic] that the Negroes are the real Children of Israel and to keep Americas secret the Jews will blackmail America… The white citizens of America will be terrified to know that all this time they’ve been mistreating and discriminating and lynching the Children of Israel.'”
Jackson later deleted the book page and then reposted it on his Story with the caption: “ANYONE WHO FEELS I HAVE HATE TOWARDS THE JEWISH COMMUNITY TOOK MY POST THE WRONG WAY I HAVE NO HATRED IN MY HEART TOWARDS NO ONE !! EQUALITY EQUALITY.”
The NFL player then uploaded another Instagram Story highlighting the same book page, but with a focus on a passage stating: “The[y] will extort America, their plan for world domination won’t work if the Negroes know who they were.”
According to an excerpt of the book found on Google Books, the statement is referring to Jews.
In his apology, Jackson said, “I probably never should have posted anything that Hitler did because Hitler was a bad person and I know that. I was just trying to uplift African Americans and slavery, and just enlighten my people. I didn’t intend any harm or any hatred towards any people…I have no hatred in my heart.”
He further said in the video’s caption: “Hitler has caused terrible pain to Jewish people like the pain African-Americans have suffered. We should be together fighting anti-Semitism and racism. This was a mistake to post this and I truly apologize for posting it and sorry for any hurt I have caused.”
The Philadelphia Eagles — who signed Jackson to a three-year contract in 2019 — published a statement on Tuesday saying the messages Jackson had shared were “offensive, harmful and absolutely appalling.”
