Mark Cuban, minority owner of the Dallas Mavericks ripped conservative commentator Dinesh D’Souza on Thursday for mocking a viral social media post featuring a worker expressing extreme frustration with his job.
Cuban spoke on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, for having adopted DEI efforts in its corporate hiring, drawing praise from some circles but negative reactions from others.
The video featured a person expressing grievances at work, including frequent reporting, their company’s lack of working hours and low wages. D’Souza tagged Cuban on the platform, mocking the user and Cuban:
“If you’re looking to diversify your company’s workforce — ‘diversity is our greatest strength’ and all that — you might consider calling this person…,” D’Souza wrote, in part.
Cuban, who used offensive language in his response, said it related to the user’s frustrations, calling out D’Souza:
“So this person wants to vent because even though he thought he was going to work hours, he didn’t. Have you ever been in this position? I have
“Then he lashes out because he lives in a car and is upset because minimum wage isn’t enough to pay the bills. Think you might be letting off steam because you don’t make enough to pay your bills? I have.
“You know what I didn’t hear that person do? Ask the public for help. Asking for money to do nothing…”
You can read Cuban’s full response here. The original video contains explicit language.
In January, Cuban responded to Elon Musk, owner of the platform: explaining why DEI initiatives are beneficial for businesses. In the original comment, Musk wrote: “Discrimination based on race, as the DEI does, is literally the definition of racism. »
Describing each word of the acronym, Cuban wrote that considering people’s race, ethnicity, gender identity and sexual orientation in hiring processes helps “find people more qualified. He added that a workforce that is diverse and representative of “your stakeholders is good for business.”
About an hour after Cuba’s response on social media Thursday, D’Souza threw another punch at Cuban.
“In short, you won’t hire him because you know he would be difficult to work with and you will likely sue your company for misinterpreting his gender.” This is what I really meant: your position on diversity is just talk! You’re here for virtue signaling. Thanks for confirming,” D’Souza wrote.
Although his social media efforts have gained traction, Cuban has also made additional in-person efforts to address diversification of hiring practices. In November 2023, he told business owners at Chase for Business’ Make Your Move Summit that diversity can help businesses build stronger connections.
He praised Cynt Marshall, the Mavs CEO he hired in 2018 and the first Black woman to lead an NBA team, calling her a “force of nature.”
Before that, Cuban made monetary donations to various causes. He contributed $100,000 to the National Association of Black Journalists’ COVID-19 relief fund in 2020, helping journalists laid off during the pandemic. This same yearhe promised $250,000 to Indiana Daily Studenta student article from his alma mater, Indiana University, for the newspaper’s Black Voices section, highlighting the voices of black students at the college.
Cuban received praise for his practices when interviewed by Arlan Hamilton at a 2022 conference at Venture Dallas. Hamilton is a black venture capitalist who received a $6 million investment from Cuba.
“You treat me like you treat white men, which is a compliment because you’ll tell them when you don’t like something,” Hamilton told Cuban. “You’ll tell me when you don’t like something. And I’ll never have to guess where I stand with you.
After selling his majority stake in the Mavericks to the Adelson family, Cuban maintained his entrepreneurial role in the Dallas economic scene. He currently runs a healthcare company called Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Companywho started make your own medicine at its Deep Ellum facility in early March.
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