A cartoon that depicted Kobe Bryant as a victim of a helicopter crash has been pulled by Comedy Central following the NBA legend's death this week.
The 2016 episode of Legends of Chamberlain Heights shows Bryant crawling out of the shattered windscreen of an upside down chopper, pleading for help.
Bryant, his daughter Gianna and seven others were killed when his helicopter crashed in California on Sunday (local time).
Following the tragedy, the official Twitter account for the Legends of Chamberlain Heights series announced the clip had been pulled from public circulation.
"Out of respect for Kobe and his family we have removed the clip of him and ask that you please don't share it," the tweet read.
"RIP Kobe and Gigi Bryant and everyone else who died in the helicopter crash today."
Despite the showrunners' requests, clips of the eerie scene from the series have been posted in the Twitter thread.
Meanwhile, some fans have questioned whether the moment was ever appropriate, even before Bryant's untimely death.
"Where was the respect when it was created?" one Tweet read.
"Out of respect, you never should've written and aired that sick scene!" said another.
Other commenters defended the show's writers, saying Bryant's regular use of helicopter transport meant the joke made sense and they couldn't have predicted the tragedy.
"Yeah, removing it was a good idea," one Twitter user said.
"There was no way they could have known about the crash, but in retrospect it is creepy. I didn't even like Kobe, but that was hard to watch."
