Newsweek apologized and retracted a story Wednesday that used the new African-American "Bachelorette" to highlight low rates of interracial dating among black women.
"Unlike New 'Bachelorette' Rachel Lindsay, Single Black Women Rarely Date Outside Their Race," read the headline of the now-deleted story.
The article noted that Lindsay's first kiss on the show was with a man of Colombian descent.
"Lindsay stands out, however, not only because she is the first non-white woman to helm a 'Bachelorette' season, but because black women so rarely date beyond their own cultures," reporter Janice Williams wrote.
"While 25 percent of black men married someone of a different race in 2015, only 12 percent of women did. When it came to marrying white men, only three percent of black women said 'I Do' in 2015," Williams added.
The story flew under the radar until Newsweek tweeted it out with an even more controversial description.
"New 'Bachelorette' Rachel Lindsay is proving black women actually do like men outside their race," the magazine tweeted.
The tweet's implication that there is something odd or unusual about interracial dating did not go over well on the social media site. Others pointed out that the data Newsweek relied on was outdated, and that black women often do not date outside their race because white men are not receptive.
Not sure which was worse in that @Newsweek interracial dating editorial. The headline or the outdated data provided in the article.
— Black Girl Nerds (@BlackGirlNerds) May 24, 2017
@Newsweek Meanwhile, there's data that supports Black women are less likely to receive responses from online dating users.
— Black Girl Nerds (@BlackGirlNerds) May 24, 2017
@Newsweek Black Women don't date interracially? Ummm. I don't think all of us got that memo cuz.... This would be news to at least one person I know.
— roxane gay (@rgay) May 24, 2017
Dear @Newsweek, 2011 called and it wants its headline back. We ain't using Black women's dating habits for pageviews in 2017, fam. pic.twitter.com/bcJdHOLaP6
— britni danielle (@BritniDWrites) May 24, 2017
"To further complicate matters, marriage isn't always an option for black women looking for a black partner." Um, WHAT? #TheBachelorette https://t.co/MAaO4qa6e2
— Vanessa Herring (@VanessaWBAL) May 24, 2017
Can y'all like maybe...not? https://t.co/qnoeaZKRTP
— Michael. (@yosoymichael) May 24, 2017
Black women--they're just like you! pic.twitter.com/WL8yEKo7zU
— ElizabethNolanBrown (@ENBrown) May 24, 2017
Under pressure, the story and tweet were deleted and Newsweek apologized.
Newsweek has removed a story posted on May 23 about the Bachelorette. We apologize for any offense it caused.
— Newsweek (@Newsweek) May 24, 2017
NBC News later got involved in the story, questioning whether America is "ready" for interracial dating. (Recent polling on the subject found nearly nine in 10 Americans support it).
That tweet was deleted after a similar social media outcry, but the story remains up.