NBA All-Star Accuses Australian Casino Of Discrimination

A member of the Philadelphia 76ers insinuated he was racially profiled by casino staff when trying to enter an Australian casino.

Ben Simmons, an Australian native and guard/forward for the 76ers, posted a video on his Instagram where he showed himself two other black men being stopped by security at the entrance of the Crown Casino in Melbourne. In the video, he asked why he and his friends were being stopped, but a group of white people was not stopped, according to an Associated Press report.

“They didn’t let me in, or him, or this guy. Wow, we got a long way to go,” Simmons said in his video, according to TMZ Sports.

Simmons deleted the video Tuesday morning when the casino released a statement completely refuting Simmons’ claim of racism.

“Crown’s internal security policy requires our security officers to check identification of those persons they believe to be under the age of 25,” a Crown spokeswoman said in a statement. “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.”

Simmons, the first overall pick in the 2016 NBA draft, is 23 years old.

The two stories are completely different in that Simmons’ side of the story says they were denied entry, while Crown Casino makes no mention of stopping the basketball star not being allowed to enter.

Simmons tweeted Tuesday morning that he and his friends felt ‘personally singled out’ at the casino.

Rapper Meek Mill made similar claims against the Cosmopolitan Las Vegas after he was denied entry by security last May.

Most Viewed Articles