In July 2012, actor Michael Clarke Duncan was taken to a Los Angeles hospital after suffering a heart attack. Duncan was placed in intensive care for weeks before passing away on September 3, 2012 at the age of just 54. His girlfriend at the time of his death, reality TV star Omarosa Manigault, called Duncan the love of her life.
This week, reports surfaced that someone had defaced the Green Mile actor’s grave with a racist image. According to a TMZ report, a friend of Duncan’s visited his grave this week and found a smiley face attached to the grave that looked suspiciously similar to a depiction of a Little Black Sambo.
However, it now appears that the smiley face was not intended as a racist slight against Duncan. LAist is now reporting that the object was left by an artist named Lisa Albanese. Albanese has stated that she did not intend to offend anyone and that she is “in shock and saddened” by the reaction her art has caused. She reportedly routinely leaves the smiley faces at celebrity grave sites and in other places around L.A., as she notes in a Facebook post from 2011.
Duncan was best known for his roles in movies such as The Green Mile, Armageddon, and Daredevil.
