“Shark Tank” star Daymond John apologized on Sunday for praising a speech that controversial religious figure Louis Farrakhan gave at DMX’s funeral, after intense criticism from people who called out Farrakhan’s history of antisemitic statements.
“In regards to my tweet regarding DMXs funeral, my comments on Minister Farrakhan were only related to what I just witnessed tonight, unbeknownst to his prior stances,” John, who founded the clothing company FUBU, tweeted. “As someone who was fortunate enough to have a step dad of the Jewish faith, I do not condone and never would condone any anti Semitic, prejudice or any remarks of hatred.”
“The prior tweet will be removed to avoid further pain and confusion to anyone who has felt hurt in the past by any negative comments of his,” he concluded.
Earlier in the day, John tweeted: “What a powerful speech from Minister Louis Farrakhan for the #dmxfuneral. His deep understanding of the Bible and respect for other people’s religions was truly inspiring. #RIPDMX.”
That tweet received a flood of responses from people pointing out Farrakhan’s record — the ADL’s website has archived dozens of anti-Semitic comments made by Farrakhan going back decades, including the time he warned that “satanic Jews” had “taken over BET.” And in 2018, Facebook deleted a video from Farrakhan comparing Jewish people to termites.
See John’s statement below: