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‘Ellen Show’ sparks outrage for picture of DeGeneres riding Usain Bolt

Another day, another meme gone awry.

Photo of Christine Friar

Christine Friar

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Welp.

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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.” 

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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. 

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While fans on Twitter were all about the original Smiling Bolt, Ellen‘s contribution was widely received as racially insensitive: 

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https://twitter.com/daibyday/status/765330890503446528

https://twitter.com/MiQL/status/765336547273027584

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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: 

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H/T Mic

 
The Daily Dot