David Guetta ridiculed for releasing bizarre song sampling Martin Luther King 'to honour George Floyd'

People have been carefully monitoring the actions of non-black celebrities across the entertainment industries, speaking out in support of the current Black Lives Matter protests sweeping the US.

While some, like Seth Rogen, Chrissy Teigen and Billie Eilish, have been praised for their response, the attempts of other celebrities to raise awareness have been… misguided.

Like that of DJ David Guetta, whose well-meaning gesture to the family of George Floyd has been widely ridiculed for its complete failure to read the room.

During a live-streamed event raising money for coronavirus charities, the French DJ took a moment to pay tribute to Floyd, who died last week after a police officer knelt on his neck for nine minutes.

The world is going through difficult times and America too, actually,” Guetta said.

Last night, I knew we were going to do this and I made a special record… in honour of George Floyd.

I really hope we can see more unity and more peace when already things are so difficult.

Guetta appeared to check his notes before reeling off Floyd’s name.

He then offered a “shout out to [Floyd’s] family” before the beat dropped on the track and a sample of Martin Luther King’s famous “I have a dream” speech began to play over a trance beat.

At one point during the stream, the footballer Robert Pires appeared on a split screen alongside Guetta, adding to the farcical nature of the moment.

The song certainly failed to strike the right chord with audiences.

A Twitter user called it one of the biggest “crimes” of the weekend.

The memes quickly came out to play.

Some wondered which reality they’d managed to wander into.

Scottish DJ Hudson Mohawke called Guetta’s gesture “tone deaf” and said though Guetta’s cause was “noble” the off key execution was “mindblowing”.

But others felt Guetta had inadvertently managed to capture the mood.

Calvin Harris… your move.