Mark Knight’s Serena Williams cartoon didn’t breach standards, Press Council rules

The Australian Press Council has ruled that a controversial cartoon of tennis star Serena Williams by the Herald Sun’s Mark Knight did not breach media standards.

Cartoonist Mark Knight at his studio with his depiction of Serena Williams. Picture: David Geraghty

The Australian Press Council has ruled that a controversial cartoon of tennis star Serena Williams’s dummy spit during the US Open final by the Herald Sun’s Mark Knight did not breach media standards.

The cartoon of Williams jumping in the air above a broken tennis racquet during the final against Japan’s Naomi Osaka last year in September drew accusations of racism and sexism around the world.

Knight has strenuously denied the allegations.

In a statement, the Press Council said it “accepts that the cartoon was illustrated in response to the events” that took place at the US Open final last year on September 9, which attracted global attention.

“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.”

The Press Council acknowledged that some readers found the cartoon offensive, but also accepted that there was a “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.”

Serena Williams Mark Knight cartoon.

“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. Accordingly the Council concludes that its Standards of Practice were not breached.”

The Herald Sun’s publisher News Corp wasn’t immediately available to comment on the ruling.