NBA's Meyers Leonard Suspended After Using Antisemitic Slur On Warzone Twitch Stream

Content Warning: use of hate speech, antisemitism, explicit language.

Miami Heat center Meyers Leonard has been suspended and fined following his use of an antisemitic slur during a Call of Duty: Warzone stream on his Twitch channel earlier this week. He's also now been suspended from Twitch. This comes after he was already forced to take an indefinite leave of absence from the Heat and was cut from the esports organization FaZe Clan.

According to NBA reporter Shams Charania, Leonard will be fined $50,000 (from a salary of over $9 million this season) and suspended from "all Heat facilities and team activities" for one week. Additionally, he'll have to take part in a cultural diversity program. However, according to ESPN, he won't forfeit any pay for the games he misses due to the suspension because he is currently injured, having been ruled out for the season with a shoulder issue earlier this year. Were that not the case, Leonard could have lost out on an additional $324,000.

As reported by Defector, Leonard was streaming Warzone on Monday, and he began complaining about a player trying to snipe him. In an outburst, Leonard called them a "k*** b****." You can see the incident in the uncensored video clip below:

Leonard said the slur on a Monday stream, but it took some time before his comments began to make the rounds. During a subsequent Warzone stream, viewers in the chat questioned his use of the word before the chat devolved into an "emote-only mode." He then got a call from his wife and cut the stream short.

"We just became aware of the video and are in the process of gathering more information," an NBA spokesperson said on Tuesday. "The NBA unequivocally condemns all forms of hate speech."

Leonard has been dropped from FaZe Clan, the popular esports organization the NBA player joined in June 2019. According to a statement from FaZe, the company doesn't "tolerate hate speech or discriminatory language of any kind." The organization noted that while Leonard isn't a "member of FaZe," it is "cutting ties with him" effective immediately.

Following FaZe Clan's statement, Leonard released one of his own, which you can read below:

The Heat also issued a statement in which it condemned Leonard's language, saying it "will not tolerate hateful language from anyone associated with our franchise." It added that Leonard "will be away from the team indefinitely" and that the team will cooperate with the NBA's investigation, which has now led to the suspension and fine.