Do Better: BBC News Apologizes After Accidentally Posting Photo of Viola Davis While Celebrating Beyoncé

Viola Davis, left; Beyoncé.
Viola Davis, left; Beyoncé.

I don’t know who needs to hear this, but Viola Davis and Beyoncé are not the same person. In fact—scratch that—I know exactly who needs to hear this: BBC News.

According to the New York Post, the U.K. network had to issue an apology following the 2023 Grammys for accidentally posting a photo of Viola Davis while celebrating Beyoncé’s big night. Yes, you read that right and no, I’m not making this up.

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“Beyoncé morphing into Viola Davis is the only news. Did BBC do this & has is it been corrected? #GRAMMYs,” wrote one user on Twitter.

@BBCNews how do you not know the difference between Beyoncé and viola, Davis.. talking about b while showing a picture of Viola Davis .. really,” said another.

After seeing the online outrage their blunder caused, the network issued an apology statement writing:

“We apologise for the mistake last night when our news channels briefly showed a photograph of Viola Davis from January’s Golden Globes alongside a headline about Beyoncé at yesterday’s Grammys. This fell below the BBC’s usual standards.”

So not only did they post a photo of Viola Davis instead of Bey for this segment, but they posted an old photo from last month? OK, BBC. I understand mistakes happen on the backside of live TV all the time, but even this is highkey egregious. I also understand both women made history on Grammy night: Viola finally became an EGOT and Bey became the most awarded artist of all time. But for y’all to make this mistake, not catch it beforehand and to make it during Black history month is doing a whole lot.

This is not the energy we need nor deserve. Do better.

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