A cartoon of Serena Williams published in the aftermath of her US Open final defeat to Naomi Osaka was not racist, a watchdog has found.
Williams suffered an extraordinary meltdown during her loss to Naomi Osaka in the US Open final in September - calling umpire Carlos Ramos a thief for taking a point away from her.
The 23-time Grand Slam champion was penalised a point for a second offence, smashing her racket, and then a game after she verbally abused Ramos.
In the aftermath, the Herald Sun published a cartoon of Williams, with some believing the tennis star was depicted as an ape.
The Australian Press Council said: 'Concern was expressed that the cartoon depicted Ms Williams 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.'
In an adjudication released on Monday, the watchdog said it acknowledged that some readers found the cartoon offensive, but said there was 'a sufficient public interest' in commenting on sportsmanship during a 'significant dispute' between a high-profile tennis player and an umpire at the US Open final.
'The council considers 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.'
After cartoonist Mark Knight shared a photo of the cartoon to Twitter, celebrities including author J.K. Rowling, rapper Nicki Minaj and Kathy Griffin criticised his work.
'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,' Rowling said.
Griffin branded him a 'racist piece of s***' and said: 'Just change your name to KKK cartoons.'
Minaj, on her Queen Radio show, awarded Knight her 'C**ksucker Of The Day Award'.
Others deemed it 'disgustingly racist', 'truly vile' and 'an insult to both women'.
Williams' husband Alexis Ohanian, 35, said the cartoon was both 'racist' and 'misogynistic'.
Knight said he received death threats from members of the public after the cartoon was published.
The artist initially thought the mess would blow over, but for weeks both he and his family were targeted.
'They traced my wife and children through Facebook. Our son's a pilot. There were messages that said, "I hope your son's plane crashes into your house and kills you all",' Knight told The Australian.
'They wished I was dead, there were threats, aggressive horrible stuff against the kids, like 'We hope someone gets you, gets your family'. I was a 'racist a**hole'. I work in the media, I know what to expect, but my family doesn't and it hit them really hard.'
The abuse was so bad, Knight had to organise for security guards to stand around his property for a week.
Herald Sun editor Damon Johnston defended the cartoon and Knight.
'A champion tennis player had a mega tantrum on the world stage, and Mark's cartoon depicted that. It had nothing to do with gender or race,' he said.
This article has been adapted from its original source.
