Bengaluru, Nov 15: The world was in mourning after Marvel Comics writer-editor Stan Lee breathed his last on Monday, November 12. But amid the sadness, there were also moments of embarrassment and mockery as one New Zealand newspaper called Stan Lee as Spike Lee, the American film director, on its first page, leaving the Internet abuzz.
The Gisborne Herald though rightly used a picture of Stan Lee and the age at which he died - 95, it named him as Spike Lee as the caption read: "Characters first, superheroes next: Spike Lee dies at 95." It did not take long for the blunder to gain a coverage world over with people coming up with shocking and funny reactions to it.
View this post on InstagramA post shared by Spike Lee (@officialspikelee) on
#SpikeLee is dead & white, his number one nightmare has come true! #StanLee pic.twitter.com/5aKWSway1K
— West Ham & Money (@Wham2214) November 13, 2018
Guess someone at @gisbornenews smoked one too many Spike Lee Joints #StanLeeForever #StanLee pic.twitter.com/99MYG1xlxZ
— King ð“…“ (@Philip0Turner) November 13, 2018
Spike Lee, Stan Lee, Bruce Lee. Arragh, it's one of the Lees who's dead. pic.twitter.com/kwX37VXQpb
— Declan Varley (@declanvarley) November 14, 2018
It's so hard to get good subeditors these days. #StanLee #SpikeLee pic.twitter.com/qtrgYsKLDY
— Deep Fried Man (@DeepFriedMan) November 14, 2018
A snapshot of the Gisborne Herald's front page focusing the error was shared on the social media. Even the other Lee, Spike, whose name was used in place of Stan, reacted to the gaffe in his characteristic style over Instagram. He said: "God Bless Stan Lee. Me? Not Yet. And Dat's Da 'I'm Still A Live, And Strivin' Truth, Ruth."
Also Read | Marvel legend Stan Lee dies at 95
The Kiwi newspaper later admitted the mistake but there was no apology over it. It rather talked about the "international spotlight" it got for the headline error. According to a report by Stuff, a news website in New Zealand, Gisborne Herald editor Jeremy Muir said the error was "really embarrassing" and was quoted as saying: "People are having a bit of fun with it. That's fine. It's just really embarrassing. It's a human mistake."