A cartoonist painted Serena Williams in a rather unflattering light and people are slamming the drawing for being “racist” and “sexist.”
Fans and public figures alike took to Twitter to condemn a cartoon published in Australia’s Herald Sun that shows the tennis legend stomping on her racket like an irate child.
The drawing was an outrageous depiction of Williams’ controversial U.S. Open match this weekend — which took a dramatic turn when chair umpire Carlos Ramos charged her with multiple code violations, prompting the 36-year-old to bust her racket and call the umpire a thief.
Related: Serena Totally Regrets Wearing A Waist Trainer
Fans are divided on whether or not Williams deserved the violations, but everyone seems to agree that cartoonist Mark Knight’s interpretation of the event is appalling and completely uncalled for.
J.K. Rowling slammed the illustrator for using “racist and sexist tropes” in his work, tweeting:
Well done on reducing one of the greatest sportswomen alive to racist and sexist tropes and turning a second great sportswoman into a faceless prop. https://t.co/YOxVMuTXEC
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) September 10, 2018
Kathy Griffin offered a much blunter critique, tweeting:
Hey @Knightcartoons just change your name to KKK Cartoons
Racist piece of shit! https://t.co/ODfeEe6D0g
— Kathy Griffin (@kathygriffin) September 10, 2018
Even ESPN’s Jemele Hill weighed in, writing:
About as subtle as Fran Drescher’s voice ????????♀️ https://t.co/VM23b4XnlI
— Jemele Hill (@jemelehill) September 10, 2018
Countless Twitter users felt the same way, with one noting Knight used “classic sambo tropes- enlarged lips, overexaggerated body parts to depict Serena as hyper masculine.”
Another user snapped:
https://twitter.com/thetrudz/status/1039158655923437568
Srsly, what year is it?
[Image via ESPN/YouTube]
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