Millionaires are mourning the death of NBA All-Star and current Hall of Fame inductee, Kobe Bryant. After his tragic helicopter crash on Sunday morning, taking the lives of eight others (including his daughter Gianna), family, friends, and fans have lamented over the horrible loss and lifting the amazing highlights of his life.
As expected, and in many minds deserved, they have remembered him as a distinguished hero.
But not everyone. Two media personalities have used their platforms to smudge his name less than hours after he met his demise.
MSNBC anchor Alison Morris has had to apologize after seemingly using N-word describing the death of Kobe Bryant to her audience. She says it was a slip of the tongue but the censors on the network thought otherwise. The stumble/mispronounce/slip-up/whatever was actually aired in some markets, but in others, there was a 15-second delay triggered, according to Grabien News.
“It seems like he was just the kind of athlete, the kind of star that was perfectly cast on the Los Angeles …” Morris muttered.
Instantly, the backlash came and she moved with expediency to nix the confusion.
She tweeted: “Earlier today, while reporting on the tragic news of Kobe Bryant’s passing, I, unfortunately, stuttered on-air, combining the names of the Knicks and the Lakers to say ‘Nakers.’ Please know I did not & would NEVER use a racist term. I apologize for the confusion this caused.”
While she received a ton of backlash, cultural critic, analyst and watchdog Marc Lamont Hill came to her defense with four words, “I believe her, bro.”
While people are mixed on Morris, everyone is 20/20 clear on Washington Post writer, Felicia Sonmez. The Harvard grad took the time to no send words of encouragement to his bereaved widow Vanessa or his three remaining daughters. She did not take the time to donate money to the charity most beloved to him, or reach out in consolation for the children (particularly the ones affected by losing their coach and mentor), but took to social to tweet out rape allegations, smudging his legacy — whether true or not— while people are just getting their bearings on the death of their hero.
According to CNN, Sonmez tweeted a 2016 Daily Beast story detailing a sexual assault allegation made against the Black Mamba on the same day of his death, actually hours later.
Another way that Sonmez’ controversy is different than Morris is that she actually is defending her position. Sonmez wrote, “any public figure is worth remembering in their totality,” according to screenshots included in an opinion piece for The Post by the paper’s media critic —Erik Wemple.
Do you believe it is too soon for people to bring up these allegations or is it fair game?
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