Ellen DeGeneres responds after being called a racist for posting Usain Bolt meme

Luther Vandross was outed as gay after his death.

Ellen DeGeneres has responded after backlash erupted over a meme that she posted of herself riding on Usain Bolt’s back.

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She captioned the image, “This is how I’m running errands from now on,” but many commenters suggested there was in inherent racism in the image of a white woman riding on the back of a black man, if not total insensitivity.

Others said the anger was a total overreaction.

 

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Following the massive backlash, DeGeneres took to Twitter to defend herself: “I am highly aware of the racism that exists in our country. It is the furthest thing from who I am.”

 

Usain Bolt retweeted DeGeneres’ original meme.  He was a guest on The Ellen Show last November, where he ran a race against young Jamaican YouTube sensation Demarjay Smith.

–Hillary Clinton learns to dab on ‘The Ellen DeGeneres Show’

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