CNN Worldwide president Jeff Zucker apologized to staff on Tuesday regarding a story on the network’s website that called Freddie Gray the son of an “illiterate heroin addict,” according to The Wrap. The controversial story that exploded on Twitter was about the first day of jury selection in one of the Baltimore officer’s charged with Gray’s murder.
The sentence that infuriated critics was, “the April 19 death of Freddie Gray, the son of an illiterate heroin addict, made him a symbol of the black community’s distrust of police.”
Zucker reportedly said the “intent of the story was to show that Freddie came from a tough environment but it came out wrong and was updated on the digital end.”
UPDATE: CNN tells TVNewser that The Wrap is incorrect and Zucker has not apologized for the article. We have adjusted our headline for accuracy.
The CNN.com story has been updated, but we have the original:
