A cartoon drawn by Mark Knight of Australian newspaper the Herald Sun is going viral for the racist depiction of Serena Williams in the aftermath of her US Open finals match.
In Saturday's final against Naomi Osaka, Williams was cited three times for code violations in which she called the chair umpire Carlos Ramos a "liar" and a "thief, and also alleged he treated her differently than male players. As a result, she was fined $17,000.
"I'm here fighting for women's rights and for women's equality and for all kinds of stuff and for me to say thief and for him to take a game, it made me feel like it was a sexist remark," said Williams after the final. "He's never took a game from a man 'cause they said thief, for me it blows my mind!"
Today, the Herald Sun published Knight's cartoon depiction of Williams' outburst:
https://twitter.com/_/status/1039017329030393856
Several celebrities have called out Knight and the newspaper for the tasteless image, including "Harry Potter" author J.K. Rowling, comedian Kathy Griffin and Jemele Hill. “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,” J.K. Rowling posted.
ESPN’s Jemele Hill noted the racism is “About as subtle as Fran Drescher's voice.” Kathy Griffin tweeted, “Hey @Knightcartoons just change your name to KKK Cartoons. Racist piece of shit!”
Check out some of the responses to the cartoon in the tweets embedded below.
https://twitter.com/_/status/1039131260742979585
https://twitter.com/_/status/1039131409011625986
https://twitter.com/_/status/1039135147415793664
https://twitter.com/_/status/1039135147415793664
https://twitter.com/_/status/1039079958734413825
https://twitter.com/_/status/1039133623176323078
https://twitter.com/_/status/1039128724938084352
https://twitter.com/_/status/1039084757219463169
