The image, posted on Twitter after of the sprinter’s gold-medal performance in the men’s 100 meters Sunday, was meant to be a lighthearted reflection on how fast Bolt is. It was captioned, “This is how I’m running errands from now on.” Some claimed it was racist.
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“I am highly aware of the racism that exists in our country,” DeGeneres tweeted in response Tuesday. “It is the furthest thing from who I am.”
Some didn’t find the photo funny at all. Some said the depiction of a white woman on a black man’s back was racist and deplorable.
“So riding on his back like a mule, a horse as some form of property is fun to you… Ok.” one person tweeted.
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“An apology won’t do, this is utterly f—ing ridiculous, how dare you?” another wrote.
Bolt didn’t seem to find anything offensive about the photo. The Jamaican even retweeted it on his personal account.
