Ellen DeGeneres responds after being called a racist for posting Usain Bolt meme
This is how I’m running errands from now on. #Rio2016 pic.twitter.com/gYPtG9T1ao
— Ellen DeGeneres (@EllenDeGeneres) August 15, 2016
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.
https://twitter.com/barnor_hesse/status/765691456207990784
https://twitter.com/ira/status/765365032045596672
As evidenced with the @TheEllenShow tweet, white people think they can say things outside of a historical context but they can't.
— Eliel Cruz (@elielcruz) August 16, 2016
Others said the anger was a total overreaction.
https://twitter.com/KudntBeBetter/status/765833917307953152
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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.”
I am highly aware of the racism that exists in our country. It is the furthest thing from who I am.
— Ellen DeGeneres (@EllenDeGeneres) August 16, 2016
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.
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