A local NBC affiliate confused record producer Jermaine Dupri with Chris Kelly, one half of the ’90s teen hip-hop duo Kris Kross.
The station was reporting that the “Mac Daddy” was found unresponsive in his Atlanta home and later pronounced dead at a local hospital Wednesday night. But instead of running an image of Kelly, the station ran an image of Dupri , who formed Kris Kross after spotting Kelly and Chris “Daddy Mac” Smith at a mall in 1990. The duo released their first album, Totally Krossed Out , in 1992, and the first single, “Jump,” was #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for eight weeks. The album went four times platinum.
Making matters worse, the station had “Source: Google.com” written on the image, meaning someone didn’t take enough time to make sure they were using a picture of the right person.
Kris Kross separated in 1996 but reunited this year at the So So Def 20th anniversary concert .
Dupri was understandably devastated when he learned of Kelly’s death.
“To the world, Chris Kelly was MacDaddy but to me he was the son I never had,” Dupri said. “When I think about it I spent more time with Chris and Chris than damn near anybody in my whole life, so you can imagine how bad this hurts.”
This isn’t the first time the media has confused two black celebrities who often look nothing alike. When The Green Mile actor Michael Clarke Duncan died last September, a Buffalo NBC affiliate used a picture of Seal instead. And in January, Elle confused Real Housewives of Atlanta star NeNe Leakes with The Walking Dead actress Danai Gurira.
Similarly, and perhaps even more egregious than the above examples, ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos confused NBA legend Bill Russell with Morgan Freeman at President Obama’s inauguration in January.
Are you surprised that the NBC affiliate used the wrong picture?
