Comedian Ellen DeGeneres once faced backlash after her TV show tweeted out a joke about Olympic sprinter Usain Bolt. Read on!

When Ellen DeGeneres Got Slammed & Called Racist For Sharing Controversial Meme About Usain Bolt, Netizens Said: “This Is So Gross…” ( Photo Credit – Instagram )
Comedian Ellen DeGeneres is one of the most loved artists in Hollywood. She is well known for hosting her eponymous talk show, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, from 2003 to 2022, for which she received 33 Daytime Emmy Awards. However, she has landed in some controversies in the past few years.

Back in 2016, the ‘Finding Dory’ voice actress faced a wave of backlash after the Twitter account for her TV show tweeted out a joke about Olympic sprinter Usain Bolt that some users thought was racist — or, at the very least, insensitive. Scroll down to know more.

A picture of Usain Bolt casually looking back at his competition had become meme fodder. Many used the pic to have some fun on social media. Ellen DeGeneres decided to join in on the fun. The American comedian shared an altered version of the now-iconic picture, where she is clinging to the Jamaican sprinter’s back in a Yoda-like pose. Sharing the pic, she captioned, “This is how I’m running errands from now on.”

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@usainbolt I know ur a comedian but this is wrong on so many different levels! It’s Not Ok #BadJoke pic.twitter.com/wQltP5GMUW

— Latrice Butts (@latricebutts) August 16, 2016
 

Even though Usain Bolt is very fast, the implication that a black man should carry around a white person to do errands rubbed some on Twitter the wrong way. Ellen DeGeneres did not delete the tweet but defended herself in a follow-up tweet. The comedian wrote, “I am highly aware of the racism that exists in our country. It is the furthest thing from who I am.”

 

While DeGeneres didn’t mean to be offensive with her tweet, this response is pretty tone-deaf. “I am highly aware of the racism that exists in our country” isn’t exactly a reassuring response coming from a wealthy white woman, especially when the point of the people who DeGeneres offended is, in their opinion, that she isn’t really aware of it.