Los Angeles Rams star Puka Nacua has apologized for performing an antisemitic touchdown celebration on Adin Ross' livestream Tuesday.
During the livestream, Ross guided Nacua, a star wide receiver, through an antisemitic touchdown celebration, which ended with Nacua looking into the camera and rubbing his hands together — a stereotypical gesture indicating greed that Ross' fans call his "iconic Jewish dance."
Ross then asked Nacua to perform the celebration during the Rams' game against the Seattle Seahawks on Thursday night, and Nacua promised he would.
Nacua has faced backlash since his appearance on Ross' livestream, including from a prominent elected official.
"The Los Angeles Jewish community is on edge after the Bondi Beach massacre," Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., said Thursday on X.
"And what does this a--hole @AsapPuka do? He promises an antisemitic touchdown dance for his Thursday night game," Swalwell wrote. "He should apologize or be dropped."
Nacua addressed the incident Thursday afternoon, apologizing and saying he was unaware of the antisemitic nature of the dance.
"When I appeared the other day on a social media livestream, it was suggested to me to perform a specific movement as part of my next touchdown celebration," Nacua wrote in a statement on Instagram.
"At the time, I had no idea this act was antisemitic in nature and perpetuated harmful stereotypes against Jewish people," he said.
"I deeply apologize to anyone who was offended by my actions as I do not stand for any form of racism, bigotry or hate of another group of people," he added.
Nacua scored two touchdowns in the game against the Seahawks, which the Rams lost 38-37, and did not perform the antisemitic dance either time.
In a postgame interview, Nacua was asked about Rams head coach Sean McVay's reaction to the incident.
"Coach has just echoed that he’s always in continuous support of me," Nacua told reporters.
"He’s disappointed in some of the actions that are just distracting my teammates," he said. “I know I’ll learn from it."
In a separate postgame interview, McVay said that Nacua was "very apologetic."
"He’s a young guy that’s a great kid that’s continuing to learn about, you know, just the platform that he has," McVay said.
"I love him, we’re gonna continue to put our arm around him and help him learn and grow, but we never want to do things that offend anybody, and I know he feels that same way," he added.
Ross, a major streamer on the Kick platform who is Jewish, is no stranger to controversy.
In 2023, he was permanently banned from Twitch, another livestream platform, for using homophobic slurs and displaying racist and anti-Jewish messages from his live chat.
He has also shown pornographic images during his livestreams and promoted gambling to an audience that includes young boys.
With fewer rules and restrictions, Kick has become home to many controversial streamers, including Ross.
In 2024, Ross became a player in the presidential election when he gave candidate Donald Trump a Tesla Cybertruck and a Rolex watch during a livestream interview.
