by Jeroslyn JoVonn

April 6, 2023

Jay-Z’s Roc Nation Funds Full-Page Ad Condemning Italy’s ‘Heinous’ Racism In Soccer

Jay-Z is not here for the blatant racism Italian soccer fans recently displayed. So he dipped into his billion-dollar bag to put out a full-page ad decrying the “hateful” behavior.

The ad came after Milan’s Romelu Lukaku, a client repped by Jay’s Roc Nation Sports, was taunted with monkey sounds while playing against Juventus F.C. on Tuesday, TMZ reports. A video clip shared online showed rowdy fans making racist noises from the crowd.

In response, Roc Nation had a full-page ad placed inside Italy’s sports newspaper, La Gazzetta dello Sport.

“Dear Italy, Do better. Want better. Be better,” the letter reads.

“In professional [soccer], Black players have been subjected to hatred during professional [soccer] games. The hatred has displayed itself in the form of monkey chants, racial slurs and banana peels tossed at the best players in the world, as the world watches, as the children watch, as the players’ families watch.”

“No one has faced any consequences for this heinous behavior. Nothing has changed. No action has been taken,” it continued.

The open letter addresses the lack of action taken against the attendees and criticism of Black players on the receiving end of the racist taunts.

“In fact, the only person that could be held accountable is a player, if they react to this disgusting behavior during a game,” it stated.

“Enough is enough. Hatred equals racism equals ignorance.”

“In a game that unites people all over the world as fans, we should only witness the best of humanity. There is no circumstances where racism is tolerated,” the letter said. “Italy is better than this. We are all better than this.”

It concluded by calling on the entire sports world to come together and denounce racism.

“We call on the worldwide community of sports – players, team owners, artists, brands and all fans – to denounce this racist behavior and hold bigots accountable to a human standard. One which upholds decency, respect and compassion and others,” Roc Nation stated.

“The first team is the human team. Let’s work together to cut racism out of the game. For good.”

 


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