The consequences of Meyers Leonard’s anti-Semitic slander go beyond the basketball court.
Several game sponsors abandoned Leonard after he spewed hateful language during a live broadcast of “Call of Duty” on Twitch.
“F – ing coward. Don’t shoot me at f-king, you f-king k-eb-h, ”said the Heat’s center, who was suspended indefinitely by the team.
Professional sports organization FaZe Clan severed ties with the 29-year-old on Tuesday. According to Unilad, three other gaming companies – Origin PC, Scuf Gaming and Astro Gaming – confirmed that they would no longer work with Leonard, who has more than 58,000 followers on his Twitch account.
“We were extremely disappointed to hear Meyers’s broadcast [Tuesday], ”FaZe Clan said in a statement. “FaZe does not tolerate hate speech or discriminatory language of any kind. Although Meyers is not a member of FaZe, we are severing ties with him. This community has a lot to grow. We will be better together. “
Leonard apologized for his rant and said he did not understand the true meaning of the word.
“Although I didn’t know what the word meant at the time, my ignorance about its history and how offensive it is to the Jewish community is absolutely not an excuse and I was just wrong,” read Leonard’s statement in part.
The Heat said it would stay away from the team “indefinitely” and that it would assist the NBA in investigating its actions.