WikiHow apologizes for whitewashed image of Beyoncé, Jay Z and Barack Obama

After a controversial image was posted on wikiHow, the site full of easy, step-by-step informative instructions, it's taking some direction from its "How to make a genuine apology" article.

The website recently came under fire after being called out for posting a cartoon image of a meeting between Beyoncé, Jay Z and former president Barack Obama that depicted the three with white skin.

The whitewashed image, based on a photograph taken at a 2012 fundraising event in New York, was featured in an article entitled "How to Become a Congressman.” 

Though it was quickly removed and wikiHow offered an apology on Twitter, that didn’t stop the Beyhive from getting in formation to stand up for their queen and all people of color.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

On Tuesday afternoon, in response to backlash comparing original photograph to the altered skin and hair colors in the cartoon image, wikiHow addressed its 69.3K Twitter followers in a series of tweets explaining the situation.

wikiHow wrote it was “disgusted and ashamed” by the image and admitted it never should have made it to the site in the first place.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

"Within minutes of the first tweet, a volunteer removed the image. We then started investigating how it got on wikiHow at all," the account explained.

wikiHow then went on to describe that the image was made three years ago by a team of illustrators who work as one. "One person sketches, the other person colours," and there was a lack of communication between the two.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

"The colourist wasn't aware it was Obama and Beyoncé," the account shared, adding the whitewashing is not believed to have been intentional. "This doesn't excuse the fact that we hosted a terrible image on wikiHow and we needed more diversity on that article period."

The thread concluded with a vow to discuss the matter and encourage diversity among illustrators to prevent situations like this the from occurring again in the future.