NEW YORK – Jamaican-born Olympian, Usain Bolt, is in New York for interviews with a number of mainstream U.S. shows and magazines but Caribbean media in the city have been ignored and blacked out from any contact with Bolt.
The media blitz, organized according to Bolt`s manager, Norman Peart, by sponsor, Puma, includes appearances on David Letterman, Regis and Kelly and other shows along with interviews with Esquire magazine. But the Caribbean media, which has been the bedrock of Bolt`s support for years, is nowhere on the list.
Add to that, the fact that the Consulate of Jamaica in New York on Wednesday evening hosted a `private` event for Bolt, which included appearances by Jamaica`s Prime Minister Bruce Golding and Sports Minister Babsy Grange. But no Caribbean media was invited.
A spokesman indicated to CWN that the event was only `a courtesy call` on Counsel General Genieve Brown Metzer. But news soon leaked out that it was a private affair with only select Jamaican nationals invited and no media was allowed.
The disclosure angered Caribbean radio personalities, who took to the airwaves of 93.5 FM yesterday evening to blast what they saw as a major `diss,` given the fact that Bolt`s appearances at the Penn Relays in Pennsylvania and the ICAHN Stadium in New York has largely been a Caribbean affair.
Link Up Radio`s David `Squeeze` Annakie, slammed the blackout and opened his lines to callers who voiced anger and disappointment that they were not allowed to meet their hero and the event was kept hushed.
Ras Clem Hume, a radio announcer on Rely On Us Radio on 93.5 FM and host on CIN TV, also weighed in on the dismissal on his radio show Wednesday and slammed the consulate for the way the Bolt event was planned.
`The CJ needs to answer for this,` Hume told CWN last night. `At the end of the day the CG, the PM and everyone has to understand that we don’t dislike the private meeting they had but want to know why the general Jamaican and Caribbean Diaspora is being ignored?`
The former athlete also questioned why Team Jamaica Bickle, the organization which he said had helped to `feed Bolt and other athletes` for the past 15 years, was not a part of the private tete a tete. And he wondered why no press conference for the Caribbean media was included in the Bolt schedule or a bigger event that involved the Caribbean Diaspora, Bolt`s biggest fans.
`We were the ones slamming NBC for their comments on Bolt`s show boating and on Carl Lewis` recent accusations. Not the mainstream US media or the consul general,` said Hume.
But Hume also had harsh words for Puma. `Puma must realize that there are Jamaicans and Caribbean nationals here who supported Usain all the way, even when he was not doing as well. For them not to acknowledge this fact is not right. Bolt needs to be on those major shows. He deserves it but what about us who have been supporting him all along?`
Puma did not respond to a CWN request for an interview with Bolt and his manager, in an interview with CWN last night, insisted that the management team had no control over the Puma promotional schedule.
Bolt was bumped from the David Letterman show last night to make way for Presidential hopeful, John McCain. McCain then dumped Letterman and flew back to Washington, forcing producers to scramble for guests yesterday. Bolt is set to appear on the show tonight along side Paris Hilton. (Caribbean World News Network)
