Holdin' Down The Culture
A meme is going viral on the Internet which basically suggests that Ice Cube is a stooge not only for Donald Trump and the President’s reelection campaign but also in the Big 3 basketball league. The meme was reposted by celebrity Stephanie Mills who, based on how she captioned her post, agrees with the meme’s suggestions.
Mills shared the original caption from IG account @ampharris and noted,
“Please stay focused. Black men please VOTE! #Repost @ampharris
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Do real research and not chase the shinny object. What’s in it for Cube? Why would Cube do this? This might give a little insight. Money, Big 3 money. Black men they want you not to vote because it helps trump. #BlackMenVote”
The meme’s contents suggests that Ice Cube has ulterior motives but incorrectly states that “This is Ice Cubes Boss/ Business partner Jeff Kwatinetz, Jeff own The Big 3 Basketball League, Jeff also own Ice Cube production company Cubevision. Jeff is also best friends and business partners with Steve Bannon, yes that Steve Bannon, the guy that’s best friends with Donald Trump, so when people say do your research on Ice Cube…”
The reality is far different. Cube Vison is a film and television production company founded by Ice Cube and Matt Alvarez. Jeff Kwatinetz is a long-time entertainment industry executive and is currently the chief operations officer of the Big 3 in addition to being one of the league’s two co-founders alongside Ice Cube. The Hollywood Reporter once described Kwatinetz as a “passionate liberal.” In a 2017 interview with The Hollywood Reporter Kwatinetz specifically notes when asked about Steve Bannon’s politics (Steve Bannon is the man who the meme above refers to as Donald Trump’s “best friend”), stating,
“I don’t remember at what point I learned his politics, but as a liberal I believe in a free marketplace of ideas and I have people who believe all sorts of things at my company, and I’m very politically active. While Steve worked with me, I’d given seven figures to the DCCC [Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee], presidential candidates such as Richard Gephardt and Bill Bradley as well as several statewide candidates and others. But as a liberal, I don’t judge people on their politics, I judge them on their character, and from what I knew then and what I know now, Steve has great character. He’s not a racist or anti-Semitic. Things like that are absurd.”
As far as Ice Cube receiving preferential treatment from the Trump administration one must look back to the 2018 lawsuit involving several Big 3 league investors. The Associated Press reported at the time,
“A Qatari investor who once met with Donald Trump’s presidential transition team has been given ‘full immunity from all aspects of civil litigation’ after a lawsuit accused him of stiffing fellow investors in rapper Ice Cube’s 3-on-3 pro basketball league.
The U.S. State Department recognized Ahmed al-Rumaihi’s diplomatic status in September, according to documents related the lawsuit that were filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.
Ice Cube and Hollywood executive Jeff Kwatinetz say the Qatari investor did not honor several million dollars in financial commitments to BIG3 Basketball LLC.”
In other words, this clearly proves that Ice Cube does not receive preferential treatment from President Trump due to his business affiliation with Jeff Kwatinetz. After Ahmed al-Rumaihi was granted diplomatic immunity and relieved of any responsibly to the other Big 3 investors, Ice Cube put out the following tweet essentially mocking President Trump’s “America First” policy due to Ahmed al-Rumaihi being granted diplomatic immunity,
Everythangs Corrupt: America First? Yeah right. https://t.co/DtCUFZXv6f
— Ice Cube (@icecube) December 5, 2018
This seems to prove that Stephanie Mills is spreading false information in order push a peculiar narrative. In her post, both Snoop Dogg and Russell Simmons were quick to suggest caution before rushing to judgement over the contents of the meme. Find those comments from the Stephanie Mills post referenced below.
