Serena Williams cartoon not racist, Australian Press Council rules

The caricature of Serena Williams in Melbourne Herald-Sun by illustrator Mark Knight in September showed a butch and fat-lipped Williams throwing a tantrum at last year's US Open after losing to Naomi Osaka.

Serena Williams’ cartoon in the Herald Sun in Australia. (Source: Twitter)

A controversial cartoon of Serena Williams in an Australian newspaper, which was blasted as racist and sexist, did not breach media standards, the country’s press watchdog ruled on Monday (February 25). The caricature of Serena in Melbourne Herald-Sun by illustrator Mark Knight in September showed a butch and fat-lipped Williams throwing a tantrum at last year’s US Open after losing to Naomi Osaka.

The cartoon sparked widespread condemnation across the world, including from Harry Potter author JK Rowling and the Washington Post, which likened it to the era of racial segregation in the United States.

The Herald-Sun then defiantly republished the cartoon on its front page, despite the criticism, under the headline “WELCOME TO PC WORLD”.

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The Australian Press Council received complaints that Williams’ depiction “may cause it to be an offensive and sexist representation of a woman and a prejudicial racial stereotype of African-American people generally”.

It said there was concern expressed about her being shown with “large lips, a broad flat nose, a wild afro-styled ponytail hairstyle different to that worn by Ms Williams during the match and positioned in an ape-like pose”.

The watchdog, however, accepted that the newspaper’s intent was simply to depict her behaviour as “childish by showing her spitting a pacifier out while she jumps up and down”.

“The Council considers that the cartoon uses exaggeration and absurdity to make its point,” it said. “It accepts the publisher’s claim that it does not depict Ms Williams as an ape, rather showing her as ‘spitting the dummy’, a non-racist caricature familiar to most Australian readers.”

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The Council acknowledged that some readers found it offensive, but added that there was “sufficient public interest in commenting on behaviour and sportsmanship during a significant dispute between a tennis player with a globally high profile and an umpire at the US Open final”.

“As such, the Council does not consider that the publication failed to take reasonable steps to avoid causing substantial offence, distress or prejudice, without sufficient justification in the public interest.”

Instead of taking on criticism and apologizing, the Herald Sun appears to have had a public meltdown. Sad to see a whole newspaper have a tantrum. They’re clearly hysterical. pic.twitter.com/jwEakeh0OZ

— Tom Taylor (@TomTaylorMade) 12 September 2018

In the furore at Flushing Meadows in New York, the 23-time Grand Slam champion Williams smashed her racquet and calling the umpire a “thief” and a “liar” during the meltdown.

At the time, Knight — who has a reputation for controversial cartoons — said the uproar was a sign that the “world has just gone crazy”.

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. https://t.co/YOxVMuTXEC

— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) 10 September 2018

So unfortunate that this is your response; and without consideration for the painful historical context of such imagery and how it can support biases and racism today. Why wouldn’t a human being care about that?

— Be A King (@BerniceKing) 11 September 2018

“The cartoon about Serena is about her poor behaviour on the day, not about race,” he said.