BBC Apologizes After Airing LeBron James Footage During Segment On Kobe Bryant's Death
The BBC News is being blasted for not having enough “Black producers and editors,” which could be why the station mixed up LeBron James and Kobe Bryant during helicopter crash coverage.
During the “News at Ten” report on the tragic crash that claimed the lives of Bryant, his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna, and seven others, a photo of the former NBA star was used to open the segment. But then it panned to footage of James, wearing a jersey with “James” written on the back, the Washington Post reports.
BuzzFeed News editor Matthew Champion shared the segment on Twitter.
“I genuinely cannot believe that the actual BBC News at 10 just did this,” Champion wrote along with the clip.
British lawmaker David Lammy also chimed in, tweeting: “Kobe Bryant and LeBron James don’t even look similar. If the BBC hired more black producers and editors, appalling mistakes like this simply would not happen.”
According to Champion, the station issued an “apology for the error later in the broadcast.” But the damage was already done. His tweet has received nearly 67,000 likes and 16,000 retweets.
Bryant, 41, died in a helicopter crash on Sunday (Jan. 26) along with his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna, and seven other people. There were no survivors.
The night before, on Jan. 25, Bryant tweeted his congratulations to James for surpassing him in career points scored. It was Bryant’s final tweet.
“Continuing to move the game forward @KingJames,” Bryant tweeted. “Much respect my brother.”
