Monica Matthews, a Caucasian talk radio host on Atlanta’s 95.5 WSB-FM, apologized on Twitter for claiming Denver Broncos draft pick Jerry Jeudy was in a gang.
Matthews was among a record 55 million viewers who tuned in to watch the 2020 virtual NFL draft. The Broncos picked Jeudy 15th overall.
Jeudy, who is Black, wears a Star of David on a gold pendant around his neck. The jewelry is commonly worn by members of the Jewish faith. But Jeudy is not Jewish.
The former Alabama star wide receiver explained to reporters that he wears the piece because his friends nicknamed him “Jew,” which sounds similar to the “Jeu” in his last name. He said he didn’t wear the piece to be offensive to Jewish people.
In a tweet, Matthews suggested that Jeudy was a member of the Gangster Disciples, a notorious street gang that uses an altered Star of David as their logo.
Matthews retweeted Georgia gang investigator Ray Haim’s post suggesting Jeudy’s Star of David is a gang symbol. Haim advised his followers to “Always look for gang identifiers… I had no idea this football player was Jewish.” #gangcrisis.”
Matthews captioned her tweet, “Wow. Never ends. #criminalgangs @NFL.”
Her tweets have since been deleted, but not before her followers screenshot the tweets.
Twitter activist Tariq Nasheed referred to Matthews as a “white supremacist.”
In response to angry followers who accused her of racism, Matthews tweeted: “Why is it so hard to believe gangbangers come in all sizes incl military, police, teachers? I’m going to leave it there.”
Less than 24 hours later, Matthews apologized profusely to Jeudy in a video explaining why she jumped to conclusions based on a piece of jewelry.
She claimed she consulted with a “trusted source” (Ray Haim), and did no further research before defaming Jeudy on Twitter.
Matthews congratulated Jeudy on being drafted and she wished him good luck on his future career in the NFL.
Monica Matthews ACCUSE JERRY JEUDY NFL number draft pick OF BEING A MEMBER OF THE ‘GANGSTER DISCIPLES’ Always look for gang identifiers when they are black. Jeudy wore the Jewish star He got the idea after because people shorten his last name referred to him as Jew pic.twitter.com/3Ovml1OwUw
— Brother tyrone X (@tyrone_brother) April 28, 2020
Patriots kicker Justin Rohrwasser has a tattoo of a white supremacists gang, and the white media has gone out of their way to downplay it.
But a suspected white supremacist Radio host falsely claimed Jerry Jeudy was in a gang because of a pendant https://t.co/jpWWCeER0G
— Tariq Nasheed ?? (@tariqnasheed) April 27, 2020
The media is staying on code and protecting him.
Media Coverage of Justin Rohrwasser's White Nationalist Tattoo Has Been Shameful https://t.co/WU8tupBonz
— Tariq Nasheed ?? (@tariqnasheed) April 27, 2020