Serena Williams cartoon was not racist, Australia media watchdog rules

Depiction of tennis star with large figure and exaggerated pink lips widely criticised

A cartoon of tennis star Serena Williams which faced backlash for being “racist and sexist” did not breach media standards, an Australian watchdog has ruled.

The depiction of Williams published in Melbourne’s Herald Sun newspaper showed her reacting angrily to her loss to Naomi Osaka in the final of the US Open in September 2018.

The cartoon, which went viral, showed Williams with her mouth open wide and hands balled into fists jumping above a broken tennis racket and a baby’s dummy.

Critics have said the drawing – which depicts Williams with a large figure and exaggerated pink lips – is based on racist and sexist tropes and perpetuates the stereotype of the “angry black woman”.

Williams’ opponent is pictured as white and blonde despite her Japanese and Haitian heritage.

The 20-year-old is seen in the background reasoning politely with the umpire Carlos Ramos who asks: “Can you just let her win?”

Critics, including Harry Potter author JK Rowling, condemned the cartoon as “racist” and “sexist”.

However in a ruling published on Monday, the Australian Press Council said it “acknowledged that some readers found the cartoon offensive” but there was sufficient public interest in commenting on the behaviour of a player with a globally high profile.

“The council considered that the cartoon uses exaggeration and absurdity to make its point but 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.”

Spitting the dummy is a term used to describe someone overreacting and behaving in a childish or unreasonable manner.

The Herald Sun said the cartoon used “satire, caricature, exaggeration, and humour” to depict an event of public interest.