Rita Panahi hits out at basketballer for ‘false, ugly’ racism claim
Rita Panahi has slammed Australian basketballer Ben Simmons after he insinuated he was refused entry to Melbourne’s Crown Casino due to racial profiling.
The NBA superstar posted the since-deleted video to Instagram, suggesting he and his friends were denied entry due to their race.
But this claim has been disputed by Crown, who say the group was allowed to enter after showing ID.
It has also been pointed out that Simmons was wearing camouflage pants, which is against the casino’s dress code.
Steve Price says Simmons seems to have a habit of pushing the narrative that all Australians are inherently racist.
“He is an executive producer of a second documentary made about the indigenous footballer Adam Goodes.
“I wonder if this incident at the door of Crown has anything to do with a message that Ben Simmons might like to get out in America about how Australians treat people of colour.
“What better way to get your documentary noticed in America?”
Rita Panahi slammed Simmons for pushing the narrative that Australia is racially intolerant.
“It’s so destructive. It paints such a false, ugly picture of Australia.
“There is still real racism in Australia. That, we need to acknowledge, not nonsense like this.”
Click PLAY below to hear Steve and Rita’s comments in full
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