BBC Confuses LeBron With Kobe Bryant In Helicopter Death Coverage

Lakers legend Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna died in a tragic helicopter crash on Sunday. The information about his death shocked the world, and some even made mistakes while spreading the word. Britain’s BBC News aired a photo of LeBron James instead of the Black Mamba.

The “News at Ten” report opened with footage of Bryant and Gigi. However, the photo was followed by a photo of LeBron wearing his jersey. The mistake triggered an avalanche of reactions.

British lawmaker David Lammy criticized the mistake. “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.”

BBC apologized

Paul Royall edits the BBC’s “News at Six” and “News at Ten.” He apologized Sunday and said the mistake was a human error.

“In tonight’s coverage of the death of Kobe Bryant on #BBCNewsTen we mistakenly used pictures of LeBron James in one section of the report. We apologize for this human error which fell below our usual standards on the program,” he wrote.

Newsreader Reeta Chakrabarti apologized, too.

 “In our coverage of the death of Kobe Bryant, in one section of the report, we mistakenly showed pictures of another basketball player, LeBron James. We do apologize for the error.”

According to HuffPost reporter Nadine White, the error BBC made was “deeply unfortunate mix up.”

“They got two big, Black men confused and featured LeBron James instead of late Kobe Bryant in this news segment. This only adds to our collective grief at this time.”

“I grew up playing basketball and now that I’m living in the US, I was wondering how British media would report on the death of #KobeBryant. Didn’t have this in mind,” tweeted Sky News correspondent Cordelia Lynch.

Bryant retired in 2016 but his presence was always felt on the court. He didn’t attend a lot of games because he wanted to spend more time with Vanessa and the girls. It’s the worst nightmare a mother and wife can live through in life. We do hope that Vanessa and the girls will find the strength to overcome the tragedy.

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