Of course there was going to be more to the Instagram post Ben Simmons shared recently, the video suggesting that a Melbourne Casino racially profiled him and members of his group.

Simmons narrates through the 30-second clip, claiming that he and other friends with darker skin complexions were denied entry while a white guy with them was not turned away by security.

From the video, via TMZ:

“I find it so crazy that the only guy who doesn’t get checked to go into the casino is this guy,” Simmons said while pointing to his Caucasian buddy.

“I get checked, Mike gets checked and Taj gets checked,” Ben added. His white buddy then chimes in, “Not me!”

The Crown Casino responded in a statement posted last Monday night our time, reading as such:

The most significant thing in that statement is the revelation that Simmons and his group “provided identification and were permitted entry.” Ben’s video makes it seem like they didn’t enter the casino at all.

The 76ers point guard posted a follow up around 3 a.m. EST Tuesday morning, after the jump:

A little vague, but an update nonetheless.

This was the third piece of media I felt was worth sharing, a picture of the casino dress code that was shared by an Aussie entertainment reporter who decided to make his Twitter account private for some reason. I clipped the image from the casino website that he originally posted:

What’s interesting is that the casino statement doesn’t mention anything about the dress code, nor does it say that Simmons or his group were denied entry because of their clothes, so I don’t know if this really had anything to do with it.

Ben replied to a tweet addressing that specifically:

This seems to suggest that clothing wasn’t an issue.

That being said, a few generic thoughts:

  1. As a blanket principle, security officers should just say, “we just need to check everybody’s ID” before allowing guests in. Emphasis on everybody, because if you only card some guys in the group and not others, you’re just leaving the door open to people to feel like they’re being profiled. They’re wondering why they themselves got carded and others didn’t. Casino brass should just say, “from now on, we’re carding everybody, end of story.“
  2. Ben’s statement should have explained what happened in more detail. The vagueness hurts his case and will lead people to side with the casino.
  3. I see people on Twitter saying Ben “deleted” his video, which is a crock of kangaroo shit. It was an Instagram story, so it disappears automatically after 24 hours.
  4. I also see people saying that he “didn’t have his ID,” which is not explicitly written in the casino statement. It just says that the group “subsequently provided identification.”

That’s about it. This will probably end as a he said/she said without any real resolution.