Welp.
When Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt won his third consecutive gold medal for the 100-meter dash Sunday night, he probably wasn’t expecting to become a meme. But Getty photographer Cameron Spencer happened to capture the runner just as he turned his head and smiled as though to say, “Yeah, I’m gonna beat these guys.”
https://twitter.com/mitchgoldich/status/764987063636819968
Just like that, Smiling Usain Bolt was born.
Always a fan of a rising meme, the Ellen Show‘s Twitter account tried to get in on the action late Monday by tweeting out a digitally altered image of the host with Smiling Bolt. There’s one problem, though: She’s riding him.
This is how I’m running errands from now on. #Rio2016 pic.twitter.com/gYPtG9T1ao
— Ellen DeGeneres (@EllenDeGeneres) August 15, 2016
While fans on Twitter were all about the original Smiling Bolt, Ellen‘s contribution was widely received as racially insensitive:
so the first thing that pops in your head when looking at this pic is “oh let me jump onto his back like he’s a common mule”?
— Horatio (@Jhoratio) August 15, 2016
https://twitter.com/daibyday/status/765330890503446528
https://twitter.com/MiQL/status/765336547273027584
As of Tuesday afternoon, the tweet is still up and Ellen has not provided comment. The show did follow up with a second Bolt tweet, however, highlighting a previous appearance the Olympian made on the program.
Update 3:05pm CT, Aug. 16: DeGeneres herself responded to the controversy via Twitter:
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
H/T Mic
