Ellen DeGeneres Responds To Racism Claims From Usain Bolt Tweet

August 17, 2016

For many, the highlight of the Rio Olympics from this past weekend was watching Usain Bolt win another gold medal in the men’s 100 meters. The Jamaican track star won the race in a blistering 9.81 seconds.

The best part about the race was this photo that was captured during the final stretch — Bolt looking over and smiling as he whisked by his opponents.

(Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

It will likely go down as the most memorable image of the Rio Olympics. And of course you know it’s a big deal if Ellen gives it a mention.

In fact, the TV host decided to make it a meme.

And the Twitterverse exploded in polarizing fashion.

While the altered image was re-tweeted 34 thousand times, including by Bolt himself, it also received heavy backlash. Below are just a few of the many tweets calling DeGeneres racist.

Ellen responded with this:

DeGeneres has not issued any other statement or tweet regarding the picture.

Josh Helmuth is the editor of Crave Sports.

Josh is originally from the small berg of Arthur, Ill, proudly the Amish capital of the state. It also has one hell of a pumpkin patch.

Josh has enjoyed dipping his toes into a variety of careers since graduating from the University of Alabama, the most rewarding thus far having served as a youth director in southern California for four years, and his broadcasting career which has garnered two Emmy awards and three Edward R. Murrow Awards.

Josh enjoys loud rock music, Tom Hanks movies, dogs that like to cuddle and long runs. He is also always in search for America's greatest cheeseburger. Follow him here if you would like to be friends!