Subscribe
HipHopWired Featured Video
CLOSE

A picture is usually worth a thousand words and President Obama’s minor Internet ribbing due to him posing for selfies at Nelson’s Mandela’s memorial service with United Kingdom Prime Minister David Cameron and Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt was totally blown out of proportion, reports TODAY.

“Photos can lie,” AFP photographer Roberto Schmidt wrote in a blog post, “The story behind ‘the selfie'”

“Her stern look was captured by chance,” he said.

Many in the media, and online, had interpreted that “stern look” to mean disapproval of the president’s lighthearted behavior at a historic occasion. Schmidt addressed that, too.

When the Danish prime minister took out her mobile phone and took a photo of herself smiling with Obama and Cameron, she did so in a celebratory environment, he said.

All attention goes to the president because of his stature but the Mandela memorial actually did have a faux offense that would have everyone reeling if they knew how to pick up on it.

According to NBC, the sign language interpreter during the ceremony was fakin’ jax and just pretending to speak to the deaf public.

David Buxton, chief executive of the British Deaf Association, said in an email that “the gentleman is a total fake.”

“He has no real clue about sign language and has obviously upset the deaf community of South Africa as we have received hundreds of angry messages via Facebook and Twitter,” said Buxton, who was watching the ceremony with his South African-born wife.

Maybe he was a last minute replacement? Either way, you shouldn’t mimic the hearing impaired. The glare of disapproval can make up for the obscenties they would have hurled at you.

Watch the video of the foolishness below.

Photo: Twitter