Northeast Philly state Sen. Jimmy Dillon denies posting racist and homophobic tweets to his basketball business account

A Democratic state senator representing parts of Northeast Philadelphia is under fire for past social media posts from his business account that used racial slurs, made homophobic remarks, and promoted anti-Asian stereotypes.

Sen. Jimmy Dillon, who runs Hoops 24-7 Basketball Academy across the city, denied posting the now-deleted posts between 2011 and 2015 to the @Hoops24_7 account on X, formerly known as Twitter.

The posts included one in which the account, in 2012, referred to a person as a N—, using an alternate spelling of the racial slur. In another instance, the account tweeted at a porn star to “stop being gay and take off work to come party with us” in 2011. The account also posted anti-Asian stereotypes that conflated all Asian people as Chinese.

“As a coach, I work with kids to teach them how to play basketball and learn skills both on and off the court. I’m not a big social media guy,” Dillon said in a statement. “If a basketball player who works with Hoops 24-7 posted something like this more than a decade ago, it’s the first I’ve heard about it, and it doesn’t reflect my values.”

A spokesperson for Dillon said he and coaching staff had access to the account to post updates. However, Dillon has posted in first-person during the time period of the offensive posts, including photos and videos of himself and his family. The basketball account continues to repost Dillon’s Senate posts to this day.

Dillon, 45, is a freshman lawmaker seeking a four-year term to represent the Northeast Philadelphia district in Harrisburg. He was first elected in a special election in 2022 to fulfill the remainder of now-Court of Common Pleas Judge John Sabatina Jr.’s term.

The posts were publicized and condemned by the Senate Republican Campaign Committee on Tuesday, as Republicans hope to unseat Dillon in the Nov. 5 election. Dillon is facing Republican nominee Joe Picozzi, a 29-year-old Northeast Philly native who returned to the city after working on Capitol Hill for Republicans, including former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, and in the private sector in Washington, D.C.

“Let’s be clear, this was not a teenager making a mistake or a single comment taken out of context. This was a grown man in his 30s casually using the n-word and making disgusting jokes repeatedly on his social media,” said Cody Harbaugh, the executive director of the SRCC. “We can only wonder what Jimmy Dillon is saying behind closed doors if this is the kind of language he’ll post publicly for the world to see.”

Dillon claimed he did not use this language 10 years ago, and does not use it now.

“This is a typical, phony MAGA Republican distraction,” said Mark Nevins, a spokesperson for Dillon’s reelection campaign. “They’re taking decades-old tweets someone else wrote and waving them around like a bunch of maniacs. Meanwhile, they’re hoping we’re too dumb to notice that, at the same time, they’re trying to rip away women’s reproductive rights, prevent access to IVF treatments, and block commonsense gun violence legislation.

“Sorry weirdos. It’s not happening,” Nevins added.

Harbaugh also called on Senate Minority Leader Jay Costa (D., Allegheny) and the Senate Democratic Campaign Committee to condemn Dillon’s past remarks.

A spokesperson for the SDCC said Dillon’s “record speaks for itself” and he continues to be a vote in support of Black and LGBTQ Pennsylvanians.

“He has nurtured and trained young people from all backgrounds his entire career,” said Brittany Crampsie, the SDCC spokesperson. “Distasteful tweets from more than a decade ago written by someone else don’t change that.”

Picozzi declined to comment on the posts, and said he was focused on “getting the job done for the people of Northeast Philly.”

Dillon, a father of two, has continued to operate his business at Hoops 24-7 Basketball Academy while a state senator. The academy operates in 27 gyms across the Philadelphia region. The Hoops 24-7 Facebook page often advertises state Senate events, and the X account reposts Dillon’s official Senate account frequently.

As a legislator, Dillon has recently worked on bills to create the option for landlords and public utilities to report payments to major credit agencies to help tenants increase their credit scores.

Republicans control the state Senate 28-22. Democrats hope to grow their standing in the state Senate, while Republicans are hoping to expand their majority in the Nov. 5 election.