THE BBC has apologised for mistakenly using footage of LeBron James while reporting on the death of Kobe Bryant.
Footage of James was used in the BBC's News At Ten programme on Sunday during a bulletin on the passing of Bryant who was killed in a private helicopter crash in southern California.
Viewers and social media users were quick to highlight the mistake, criticising the BBC for confusing the two prominent black basketball players.
I genuinely cannot believe that the actual BBC News at 10 just did this pic.twitter.com/n6csMV9OOG
— Matthew Champion (@matthewchampion) January 26, 2020
In the footage used, LeBron James' name can clearly be seen on the back of his shirt.
Newsreader Reeta Chakrabarti apologised at the end of the bulletin for the on-screen error saying: "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."
Paul Royall, editor of BBC News at Six and Ten, also posted an apology on Twitter.
The former Los Angeles Lakers player died along with four other passengers – including his 13-year-old daughter Gianna Maria – when the aircraft he was in came down outside the city of Calabasas, California on Sunday morning.
Local officials said last night the helicopter crashed “under unknown circumstances”.
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