Philadelphia 76ers superstar guard Ben Simmons is taking issue with a Melbourne, Australia casino and is implying that he’d been racially profiled by security staff when attempting to enter the casino.
Simmons, who was born in Melbourne, took to social media to air his grievances, saying he and his friends felt “singled out.”
Simmons posted a video on Instagram, which he deleted on Tuesday morning, asking why he and two black friends were asked for identification but another person in their group who is white was not.
Simmons went to his Twitter pager on Tuesday, following an appearance at a charity event, where he addressed the situation.
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
The casino issued an official statement stating; “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 group subsequently provided identification and were permitted entry … [we] strenuously reject reports that it discriminated against a group of visitors last night.”