On Tuesday morning, we woke to the tragic news that comedy legend Gene Wilder had passed away at the age of 83.
It was devastating for many of us; Wilder was an institution to an elegant older class of comedy, and his role as the OG Willy Wonka had inspired our generation’s creative capacities.
It turns out that surfing legend Kelly Slater was also in mourning for Wilder’s passing, and decided to put up a tribute on social media.
And, err – does… does someone want to explain what happened here? Slater’s only gone and bloody photoshopped his face on to an image of someone who had just passed away. We’re honestly BAFFLED.
BAFFLED, WE TELLS YA.
You’ll notice if you view the comments on Instagram, many of Slater‘s fans were similarly confused as to why he’d bring the death of someone he admired back to himself, with some calling the move ‘unethical’.
Is it bad taste to photoshop your face onto an image of someone who has recently died? Ummm, yep.
But Slater is adamant that his tribute is chill, and says someone else made it and sent it to him. (We don’t know who or WHY, but oooooookay.)
He seemed somewhat defensive as he responded back to a few people on the Instagram photo, saying “if you don’t offend someone it’s not funny” and he was “sorry a small minority failed to see the humour”.
Source: Instagram / @kellyslater.
