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Ben Simmons took to social media in an effort to clarify a post regarding a recent incident at a Melbourne casino. According to the initial post, Simmons seemed to imply that he believes he was racially profiled at the casino, but added on that he and his friends felt “singled out.”
As you know an incident happened last night at Crown and my friends and I felt personally singled out, no one likes to feel like this. I am very passionate about equality and I will always speak up even if it means having uncomfortable conversations.
— Ben Simmons (@BenSimmons25) August 6, 2019
Simmons took to Instagram earlier this week, posting a video where he asked why he and two black friends were asked for identification, but another person in their group – who was white – was not. The post was deleted this morning, and the young superstar took to Twitter to explain himself, noting that he felt singled out, and would always be having conversations surrounding equality.
According to the casino itself, they were simply following their policy. In a statement (via ESPN), they noted that the security officers involved were doing their job, and that the “internal security policy requires our security officers to check identification of those persons they believe to be under the age of 25, this is an enhanced safeguard to ensure that no one under the age of 18 is permitted entry to the casino floor as required by law.”
The casino went on to say that Simmons and his group were checked and then permitted entrance, and they very strongly rejected any reports of discrimination. From the looks of it, Simmons seemed to certainly feel one way, and while it’s unknown exactly how the situation unfolded, Simmons seems willing to continue talking about these subjects no matter how uncomfortable for some they may be.
