Derrick Rose Gang Sign Photo Controversy: Rose Calls It A Bad Joke

Chicago Bulls star Derrick Rose moved quickly to try to tamp down a growing controversy over a photo circulating online of him flashing gang signs.

In a statement released Thursday, shortly after the Chicago Tribune and other news outlets reported on the photo, Rose called the picture a bad joke made during his one year at the University of Memphis and strongly denied that he has ever been involved in gang activity.

The full statement:

Recently, a photo has been circulating on the Internet which appears to depict me flashing a gang sign.

This photo of me was taken at a party I attended in Memphis while I was in school there, and was meant as a joke...a bad one, I now admit. I want to emphatically state, now and forever, that Derrick Rose is anti-gang, anti-drug, and anti-violence.

I am not, nor have I ever been, affiliated with any gang and I can't speak loudly enough against gang violence, and the things that gangs represent.

In posing for this picture, I am guilty of being young, naive and of using extremely poor judgment.

I sincerely apologize to all my fans for my mistake. I pride myself on being a good citizen, and role model, that young people can look up to and I want to urge all my young fans to stay away from gangs and gang-related activities.

In the picture, Rose was throwing signs for the Gangster Disciples Nation, a prominent Chicago gang with tens of thousands of members, according to the Tribune. The gang is a dominant presence in the Englewood neighborhood where Rose grew up.

Comments

[Ohioan730]

Looks like some kind of fake Folks pitchforks or something. LOL! Everybody I knew who wasn't a real gangmember threw those signs up to satirize the gangs. It was almost a way of making fun of them that they take hand signals so seriously. I have probably seen hundreds of fake gang member polaroids in my lifetime.

My children will never know what it was like for me growing up in fear of things they could never imagine. We laughed as much as we could as kids but behind that playful photograph are real children who lost their lives. Some of them are our friends and family.

Letting off steam and shaming the devi l by confronting fear and taking silly pictures is not the problem here. As usual, nobody sees the forest for the trees.

[plzchuteme]

So far, so good for Mr. Rose. His story is believable, and he is saying all the right things. It is a better and more complete apology than we hear from 9 of 10 celebrities. Remember a few years ago when one or both of the heirs to the British throne were photographed at a party in Nazi uniforms? Bad form; I mean really bad form, but they seemed to have weathered the storm without major long term damage. Mr. Rose has that same opportunity, and I wish him the best of luck.

[jabreal00]

I am sure he was a knucklehead in college and threw up the sign as part of some kind of bravado. Is he in a gang, I don't know. However he has denied ever being in a gang. He apologized. This is a non story.

[ChristopherAtom]

I wonder how everyone would react if Brian Urlacher was in a photo Sieg Heiling and then said "Oh, Ha ha, just kidding!"

[Philip Hendricks]

I don't think it's the same thing.

A more accurate comparison might be if you walked into Brian Urlacher's house and saw multiple pictures of Good Fellas and Scarface. Clearly he would be fan, but would you criticize him for supporting and celebrating murderers and crooks?

[ChristopherAtom]

Yes I would. And it is the same thing. Both the G.D's and the A.N. are gangs.

[mikeyrocks312]

Ok...sorry white people who have never lived on the south side of chicago or dont know anything about GD or throwing up GD for fun. He is not Folks...everyone in Chicago knows this...Thats the problem with people in Chicago. Quick to throw up the racial southside northside line when the black kid from the hood throws up something that is common knowledge to all of us from the hood.....And he didnt get it from a Video....dummies

[jeffdahmer]

I'm not sure why this is news. Media is so retarded. It's sad.

[PDXTransplant]

I just thought he had arthritis in his hands.

[Cakey4814]

Ummm..Micheal Phelps was smoking a bong and everyone said give him a break cause he's a kid..what's the difference?

[Theresa2]

As an African American woman from Chicago my first inclination would be to give Derrick a pass. After all he was in college and therefore entitled to some "young and stupid" points. But then I remember that Chicago lost more than 30 kids to gang violence this year alone and will likely lose more by end of summer. Yes Derrick grew up in this environment but was safe from it when made this so called joke. The kids still at risk don't have the opportunity he had to escape. There's nothing funny about that.

[lisabahamas]

I'm not a sports fan and never heard of this guy, but come on - can we be big enough to take someone at their word that they did something unwise in college that they now regret?

Can you remember every split second of every party you attended and honestly say there was never a moment that when captured as a photo could come back to haunt you as an adult? Be thankful you're not a celebrity.

As I recall, it wasn't too long ago that a certain Olympic swimmer was caught on video in a RECENT moment that he would've preferred have been kept private and we were all calling for him to get a pass.

If there's nothing in this man's character to suggest otherwise, why can't we just accept his statement at face value?

[CheekySpoon]

I have seen much worse from college kids.

[Alboots]

Let be real. Rose is nothing more then a Chicago kid from the hood who happens to be good at basketball. If he couldnt shoot what do you think he would be doing now. Working at NASA?

[Aaron Hicks]

One of the most ignorant comments I have heard in my life. If you don't know anything about the subject please don't comment

[FreedomTruth]

Hes lying.He knew exactally what he was doing.No wonder hes not a legend in the making.

[Aaron Hicks]

I smell a hater

[StephenJK]

Some hater threw this out there into the web and now it's a gotchya moment for Derrick. Whether or not Derrick was affiliated, he grew up around it. Chicago is aka GANGLAND on the SS. Everyone knows how prevelant gangs and their recruiting efforts are in the city. It's hard for kids without much to resist it much of the time. But, I can tell you one thing: Derrick Rose is no longer affiliated whatsoever. He's moved far away from that life and has no need or desire to associate with that life anymore. That's where he grew up. That's the kids he rolled with. He knew them. No one can say if he was initiated or a member or anything involving gangs. Certainly, he has committed no violent crimes. This is just some hater of Derrick's because Derrick has realized his dream of playing pro basketball and leaving behind all of those "friends" from the neighborhood he grew up in. Derrick's focus is now on the professional basketball court. Not gangs.

[Chitownfool]

Chicago isn't gangland it's GANSTA CITY

[StephenJK]

Chitown has always been a gangster's paradise. Just look at the Cook County government. EZ to bribe them off and operate freely.

[Aaron Hicks]

wow a lot of these comments are completely wrong but it isnt your fault. You people just don't know the situation. First of all I played against Derrick in basketball in HS. HE IS NOT IN A GANG!. Never has been. The sign is very well known throughout Chicago. To say he got it from a rap video is just wrong. And whoever the person is who "deals' with kids from the southside obviously thinks we are all in gangs which is completely wrong and ignorant. To say he is affiliated is vague because every southsider knows at least one gang member personally. doesnt mean they represent them at all. Yes Derrick grew up in the hood and the three fingers down that J.R. does has nothing to do with gangs either. Ive thrown the GD sign up myself because of friends before just as a joke but they knew it was a joke. The public is just afraid of gang members and southside kids from chicago arent. we aren't scared because we kno most of them. If you don't know what you are talking about and you don't know Derrick please don't comment negatively. He is a good guy who's negative picture got surfaced to the web. I'm more focused on him helping the Bulls win.

[Vernon Gudger]

Aaron Hicks you are correct. Some do not know Mr. Rose, including myself. I will take Mr. Rose at his word, it was a stupid joke. Your statement you are more focused on Mr. Rose helping the Bulls win is shallow. Well, if all you can appreciate is Mr. Rose basketball ability, then the Southside as you call it, is in a sad state of affairs. I was not raised in the so-called 'Hood', but a caring neighborhood and everything positive denoted by the prefix neighbor when not attached to hood. I was raised on government cheese, free lunches and food stamps in a public housing project in Washington, DC. When we spoke of looking out for our neighbors, it meant loyalty to your community. The community was comprised of many different neighborhoods. We did not war and kill eachother. We did not aggandize those who would destroy our community, regardless of race or ethnic make-up. By the way I was born in 1962. If you think time are hard now, try the era I was born.

[Aaron Hicks]

nice reply but i am not sayin gangs are a positive thing nor am i promoting it I am just saying thats the way it is around here. And I said I was and still am Derrick's friend. Helping the Bulls is not my only concern with him at all. This picture will not hurt his reputation as a basketball and I am not worried about this. He is an outstanding young man and will stay that way. But the fact that this is the main focus on him is just pety and ignorant. This minor picture should not even be a focus because it is so miniscule. And as for your life umm I really don't care the discussion was about Derrick not how you compare your area to mine.

[Aaron Hicks]

Don't get one thought in your mind that I would ever be that shallow. he is a friend of mine and I support him but the fact that the media sees such a big problem with this is sad. its pety and its distracting him from success. Im just trying to let people kno how it is now so they can understand the situation a little better. This minor incident will not hold him back at all because he is an outstanding guy and will stay that way. And dont get my words twisted. I am not a thug and never have been nor do i promote or represent a gang what so ever. So i hope you arent categorizing me in that. And as for where you grew up I dont really care, the conversation was about Derrick and this photo not about you trying to talk negatively about young men these days.