Ellen DeGeneres’ Olympics tweet sparks debate

Ellen DeGeneres’ attempt to compliment Olympic champ Usain Bolt did not go over so well.

There’s plenty of room for comedians to comment on and poke fun at the Olympic Games. Ghostbusters star Leslie Jones even parlayed her Twitter commentary into a live gig with NBC in Rio.

However, a Photoshop posted by Ellen DeGeneres has earned her some sharp responses. Check out the tweet in question below.

The caption reads, “This is how I’m running errands from now on. #Rio2016.” The attached photo shows a photoshopped Ellen appearing to get a piggyback ride from Usain Bolt. Bolt is, of course, the Olympic 100m champion and unofficially the fastest man in the world. The original photo shows Bolt looking back with a grin during the 100m. It has quickly become an iconic shot of these Olympics.

The optics of the edit, however, caused plenty of negative responses from many other Twitter users. Here’s a collection.

The tweet reads, “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’?”

Other tweets got straight to the point with a “seriously, WTF?”

One user also simply said that the edit was offensive.

Finally, one user spelled out the reason for the negative reaction. It reads, “despite its intentions this pic has ugly connotations comin [sic] from a rich white lady”.

Nobody went for the “delete your account” meme, but one user went for a lesser version, suggesting that DeGeneres delete the tweet and photo in question.

Other users responded saying that people “missed the point of the picture.” It appears that DeGeneres was going for a compliment to Bolt’s legendary speed on the track.

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As of this writing, the tweet remains on the official Twitter page for Ellen DeGeneres. So far, no statement appears to have been issued.