We all know Jim Carrey for his comedic skills. Most of us first became familiar with him during his days on the 90’s comedy show, “In Living Color,” but many of us may not know that in real life, he speaks his mind about many social matters that are far from laughable. In fact, they’re typically issues surrounding the injustices that plague our society.
That brings us to Carrey’s disdain for Donald Trump’s presidential practices and policies, which Carrey oftentimes voices. However, this time, not only is he demolishing Trump, he’s calling out the NFL and the corporations that sponsor the league too.
As we all know by now, the NFL recently announced it’s new controversial policy, which prohibits players from expressing their 1st amendment right to peacefully take a knee during the singing of the National Anthem. The league’s announcement on the new ruling, partly stated the following as the reason for it:
“Clearly our objective as a league and to all 32 clubs—which was unanimous—is we want people to be respectful at the national anthem,” said NFL commissioner Roger Goodell at a press conference announcing the new code. “We want people to stand. That is all personnel. And make sure that they treat this moment in a respectful fashion. That is something that we think we owe.”
The kneeling ban was in response to ousted quarterback, Colin Kaepernick’s bravery in utilizing his name and platform to protest against the thousands of Black people who are continuing to be unjustly murdered by trigger happy police officers. Millions of people have defended Kaepernick’s courage, but apparently, NFL higher ups do not want that type of courage displayed in their sport.
That fact didn’t go unnoticed by many celebrities, including Jim Carrey, who has now taken to Twitter to call for push back against the Trump backed NFL ruling, by hitting the league where it hurts- their pockets. Carrey believes that instead of just boycotting the NFL, fans should put pressure on the many corporations who sponsor the NFL, to cut their business ties with the NFL League, until they lift the kneeling ban and their unspoken ban against Kaepernick. To further get his point across, Carrey, a skilled artist, drew a photo to clearly demonstrate what he meant:
https://twitter.com/JimCarrey/status/1001478237128507392
Jim Carrey: “NFL — who exploits players for 3yrs then abandons them to a lifetime of pain — sided with a draft-dodging racist who uses fake patriotism to squash peaceful protest. Corporations shld rethink sponsoring moral cowardice before we start asking: whose side is Nationwide really on?”
Since the NFL’s kneeling ban, there have also been reports that several NFL players are planning to sit out the season until the league gives Kaepernick a fair shot at re-entering the NFL. Ever since the 2016 season- the year he took a knee- NFL owners have reportedly refused to hire him.
Overall, the NFL has now made it clear that although majority of NFL players are African American, the amount of money those Black men can earn for the league, supercedes their right to peacefully raise awareness about horrific injustices committed against of people of color.
