A beauty website has apologised after mistaking Whoopi Goldberg for Oprah Winfrey as part of its Oscars night coverage.

Total Beauty was criticised on social media after tweeting a photograph of Goldberg, who has a distinctive tattoo on her shoulder, accompanied by the line: “We had no idea Oprah was #tatted, and we love it.”

The tweet was quickly deleted and Total Beauty later posted: “We’d like to apologise to Oprah and Whoopi, as well as everyone we’ve offended. It was our error, and there are no excuses. We’re sorry.” The site also said it would donate $10,000 to a charity of the actors’ choice.

Goldberg, who won the best supporting actress Oscar in 1990 for her turn as a fraudulent clairvoyant in Ghost, was one of 12 black presenters at the 2016 ceremony. The run-up to this year’s awards had been dominated by the controversy over the Academy’s failure to nominate a single person of colour for acting prizes for a second successive year. Many Twitter users were predictably scathing in their response.