Today is Aretha Franklin‘s funeral and media outlets still can’t tell Black folks apart. First it was Fox News, and now it’s the BBC.
See Also: Aretha Franklin Timeline: Milestones And Achievements By The Queen Of Soul
Just hours ago, the BBC posted an article with the title “Aretha Franklin: Four Tops Lead Detroit Tribute Concert Cefore Funeral.” However, there was a photo of actress Jenifer Lewis as the image. Sirius XM radio host and journalist Clay Cane captured the screenshot and wrote on Twitter, “WHY DOES THE BBC HAVE A PHOTO OF JENIFER LEWIS (@JeniferLewis) AS ARETHA FRANKLIN? I mean, damn — on the day of Aretha Franklin’s funeral?”
See the tweet below:
https://twitter.com/claycane/status/1035516900153991168
It appears that Jenifer Lewis did perform at an Aretha Franklin tribute concert, but there is no mention of her in the article and someone at BBC clearly slapped a photo of the actress as the lead image, which is also appearing all over Twitter, see below:
Either way, this is just despicable and shows the importance of having a diverse staff. Moreover, even without a diverse staff, Jenifer Lewis and Aretha Franklin look nothing alike.
On August 16, the day the Queen of Soul died, Fox News posted a photo of Patti LaBelle instead. See the image below, with Patti LaBelle in the corner:
Fox issued a pointless apology, saying, “We sincerely apologize to Aretha Franklin’s family and friends. Our intention was to honor the icon using a secondary image of her performing with Patti LaBelle in the full screen graphic, but the image of Ms. Franklin was obscured in that process, which we deeply regret.”
The BBC has not issued an apology and they probably won’t be aware of the error until they start getting dragged on social media, which should be in about 5, 4, 3, 2, 1…
Again, just trifling.
SEE ALSO:
More Than Music: Aretha ‘Natural Woman’ Franklin Was A Civil Rights Hero, Too
Trump-Supporting DA Calls ‘Ghetto’ Maxine Waters A ‘Bitch,’ Can’t Believe She Hasn’t Been Shot
Here We Go Again: BBC Thinks Jenifer Lewis Is Aretha Franklin was originally published on newsone.com
