Dallas Mavericks owner and entrepreneur Mark Cuban issued an apology via Twitter Thursday for statements he made during an interview about race and prejudice with Inc. Magazine.
Cuban admitted during a candid conversation about embattled L.A. Clippers owner Donald Sterling that he holds his own prejudices.
“If I see a black kid in a hoodie and it’s late at night, I’m walking to the other side of the street,” Cuban said during the interview, published Wednesday. “And if on that side of the street there’s a guy who has tattoos all over his face, white guy, bald head, tattoos everywhere, I’m walking back to the other side of the street.”
Cuban became the target of Twitter backlash Thursday as many interpreted his comment about a “black kid in a hoodie” as reference to the shooting death of Florida teen Trayvon Martin. The billionaire owner issued a Twitter apology to the Martin family on Thursday, saying it probably wasn’t the most appropriate example.
“In hindsight, I should have used different examples,” Cuban tweeted. “I didn’t consider the Trayvon Martin family and I apologize to them for that.”
He added, “beyond apologizing to the Martin family, I stand by the words and substance of the interview.”
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