TV network NBC has come under fire for mistakenly using comedian Kevin Hart’s picture on a story announcing that Jamaican sprint ace Usain Bolt had contracted Covid-19.
The world-record sprinter and eight-time Olympic gold medallist was on Monday confirmed to have tested positive for the coronavirus and is in self-quarantine at his home in Jamaica a week after celebrating his 34th birthday with a big, mask-free party.
The comedian joined a chorus of those that criticised the wrongful post, describing it as disrespectful.
“I must of gotten really fast and tall overnight,” Hart joked on Instagram. “I want to take advantage of this moment and race anybody in the world.
He added: “P.S this is Disrespectful on so many levels. All you can do is laughAll you can do is laugh. Maybe the Covid 19 shrunk his legs and torso.”
As it faced growing outrage, NBC attributed the mistake to a “technical error.”
“The social image on this post mistakenly featured a photo of comedian Kevin Hart,” a new caption on the post read.
“In the content management system, a social image was not selected, and the system reverted to an image of Hart from an unrelated video. The display image has been corrected.”
Bolt was confirmed to have contracted the virus after a party attended by several A-list celebrities.
“It is now public knowledge that Mr. Bolt has tested positive,” said Christopher Tufton, Jamaica’s Minister of Health. “He has been formally notified, I’m told by the authorities. It triggers an approach to questioning, interrogation if you will, which we follow through with contact tracing.”