Asbury Park Press photo caption of ‘f---ing hot nurse’ giving COVID shots is published online
A photo caption identifying a health care worker administering COVID vaccines as a “f---ing hot nurse” left some Asbury Park Press readers experiencing side effects, including nausea.
“A f---ing hot nurse, a total JAP, loads a syringe with a dose of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine during a in the Center for Health Education, Medicine and Dentistry vaccination tent in Lakewood, New Jersey, Thursday, Feb. 25, 2021,” read the caption, which was captured by the New Jersey Globe before it was altered, then pulled offline completely Sunday night.
The caption appeared under a photo credited to Gannett photographer Gustavo Martínez Contreras. It reportedly accompanied a story about vaccination deficiencies for people of color living along the Jersey Shore. Gannett owns the Asbury Park Press.
State Senator Vin Gopal tweeted that it was “beyond disgusting if anyone is even joking like this” and demanded both an explanation and an apology for the photo caption.
The senator’s Twitter followers chimed in, also calling the caption “disgusting” and “inexcusable.”
Asbury Park Press executive editor Paul D’Ambrosio reportedly apologized “deeply” to all the outlet’s readers, especially women, the Lakewood Jewish community and the Asian-American community.
Urban Dictionary defines JAP as a pejorative term for either a “Jewish American Princess” or a “person of Japanese descent.”
The Globe reported the woman administering the vaccine was an orthodox Jewish woman.
“The words in the caption were totally unacceptable and in no way reflect the principles and practices of the staff of the Press and Gannett,” D’Ambrosio told the Globe.
The photographer, identified as a 16-year veteran in the field, has not responded to a Daily News request for comment.
