Ellen DeGeneres denies she's racist after Usain Bolt tweet

LOS ANGELES, Aug. 16 (UPI) -- Ellen DeGeneres spoke out Tuesday after facing accusations of racism over a recent tweet.

The 58-year-old television personality asserted she's the "furthest thing" from racist after posting a photo of herself riding on Olympic sprinter Usain Bolt's back the day before.

"I am highly aware of the racism that exists in our country. It is the furthest thing from who I am," she tweeted to her 61 million followers Tuesday.

DeGeneres had captioned the Photoshopped meme, "This is how I'm running errands from now on. #Rio2016." Many called the image racist for showing a white woman riding on the back of a black man.

"@TheEllenShow so the first thing that pops in your head when looking at this pic is 'oh let me jump onto his back like he's a common mule'?" one social media user wrote.

"If I ignored US history & current climate of police lynching us, this 'joke' would be hilarious," another person added.

Ellen DeGeneres faced criticism after posting a meme of herself riding on Usain Bolt's back. Photo by Ellen DeGeneres/Twitter

Bolt, who appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show in 2015, re-tweeted DeGeneres' photo. The original image of the Jamaican athlete running was taken during his gold medal-winning 100m sprint Sunday.