CBS News apologizes after using Elijah Cummings picture in John Lewis story

George Back
·Producer, Yahoo Entertainment
Updated

During Monday's broadcast of CBS Evening News, the network misidentified Rep. John Lewis. While reporting on Lewis's recent cancer diagnosis, the news outlet showed a picture of deceased Congressman Elijah Cummings.

Over the weekend, Rep. Lewis revealed that he was diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer. In a statement he said, “Doctors discovered stage 4 pancreatic cancer ... While I'm clear-eyed by about the prognosis ... I have a fighting chance.”

But while showing a quote from the statement, the producers accidentally used a picture of Elijah Cummings, who died in October, in the background.

This is not the first time news outlets have confused the two congressmen. Just this past June, Fox News issued an on-air apology after showing a clip of Rep. Lewis while doing a story on Rep. Cummings. “A few moments ago we had a technical SNAFU,” anchor Eric Shawn said. “We aired a clip of John Lewis of Georgia and mistakenly labeled him as Oversight Committee Chairman Elijah Cummings. Of course, we regret that error and apologize.”

CBS producers issued this statement on Twitter expressing regret for the mistake.

CBS Evening News airs weeknights at 6:30 p.m. on CBS.

Watch as Steve Harvey blames teleprompter for Miss Universe mix-up:

Read more from Yahoo! Entertainment:

Tell us what you think! Hit us up on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram, or leave your comments below. And check out our host, Kylie Mar, on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram.

Want daily pop culture news delivered to your inbox? Sign up here for Yahoo Entertainment & Lifestyle's newsletter.