You wouldn’t enjoy it if Samuel L. Jackson got angry with you, right? He’s the coolest mofo, but you don’t want to give him a reason to go Old Testament with a full thrashing of profanity to boot. Jackson did just that (minus the profanity) to reporter Sam Rubin, who made the grave mistake of misidentifying Jackson during an interview. Isn’t that one of the first rules of reporting? Know exactly who you are interviewing, and brush up on their background.
I guess Rubin isn’t the brightest or most courteous journo. He’s lucky that Jackson wasn’t actually in the studio during this interview to promote Robocop. Rubin casually complemented Jackson on his Super Bowl commercial, which was followed by a very awkward pause and Jackson asking, “What Superbowl commercial? You’re as crazy as the people on Twitter.” It quickly became apparent that Ruben thought Jackson appeared in the Official Kia K900 ad spot starring Laurence Fishburne in character as Morpheus from the Matrix movies. Baaad move. We’re lucky Jackson didn’t start dropping f-bombs. Here’s his response in full:
“I’m not Laurence Fishburne! We don’t all look alike! We may be black and famous, but we don’t all look alike! You’re the entertainment reporter for this station, and you don’t know the difference between me and Laurence Fishburne? I’m the other guy, ‘what’s in your wallet,’ I’m that guy. There’s more than one black guy doing a commercial. I’m the ‘what’s in your wallet black guy, he’s the car commercial black guy, Morgan Freeman is the other credit card black guy. You only hear his voice though, so you probably won’t confuse him with Laurence Fishburne. And I’ve actually never done a McDonald’s or a Kentucky Fried Chicken commercial — I know that’s surprising.”
[From KTLA morning show]
You want a super awkward video clip of the encounter? You got it:
Ha. This guy should have known better. According to Sam Rubin’s bio, he’s not just an entertainment reporter. He possesses great “insights and exploration of the deeper meaning and impact of the stories within the entertainment industry.” In this deeper meaning of this case, he made himself look like a racist. Is he racist though … or simply lazy?
Jackson was absolutely justified in going off on this dumb reporter. He’s also correct in that he and Larry Fishburne look absolutely nothing alike.
Screencaps courtesy of YouTube; photos courtesy of WENN
LMAO!
And this would have been even funnier if he spouted off after that “Yes they deserve to die, and I hope the burn in HELL!”
+1
Or he could have said “I’m tired of these mofo journalist thinking all mofo Black people look alike.
That television station should fire his ass for being old, White, and stupid. God knows Blacks are let go for less. Nobody got time for this bullshit y’all look alike cracker nonsense.
“We don’t ALL LOOK ALIKE!” – Samuel L. Jackson
He DID say that, V4Real! Jackson doesn’t need to curse to ram his point home to that out of touch, shit at his job, entertainment reporter Sam Rubin.
Go ahead, internet, and sail right over what I’m saying with “You’re reverse racist!” Go ahead. Make my day! – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mevxenJ6Mtc
^well, he shouldn’t be fired for being white, that is a completely asinine thing to say and just as racist as anything.
@v4real, lmfao!
I adore Samuel L Jackson
And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger, those who attempt to confuse me with Laurence Fishburne.
Oh my God you guys are cracking me up. I’m still mad that they took damn out of his credit card commercial.
LMAO!!! Why was I thinking the exact same thing when I was watching the video clip! LOL
They look a small bit alike, non? And OBVIOUSLY, I don’t think all black people look alike ffs, and I agree the journalist should have done his homework, but I would say there is a slight resemblance. They look like the could be…. cousins, maybe?
LOL!
Please don’t feed the stereotype they look absolutely nothing alike.
LOL…Cousins
No I don’t think they look similar but def. should have done his homework he is a entertainment reporter FFS. There was this one either at the Globes(red carpet) possibly who thought Alfre Woodward was Angela Bassett, he said how he loved her in some TV show. She didn’t do a SLJ but gave him crazy eyes.. I loved when the guy wanted to start talking about the film he said Oh hell no LOL
Exactly. The whole racist vs lazy argument is stupid: I dont think he’d have been lazy had it been a white actor. A fan on the street might confuse Billy Bob Thornton and Peter Gallagher, or Amy Adams and Isla Fisher but no on-air commentator ever would.
“I dont think he’d have been lazy had it been a white actor. ”
That’s the thing… I get the feeling he was reading from bullet points, probably assembled by an intern or a production assistant. It is possible that he didn’t make this mistake all on his own, but out sourced the effort. Thereby his laziness bit him in the ass.
But people are mistaken for other people all the time, aren’t they? I doubt that the reporter’s racist, he was more likely just not informed/lazy.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/25/mistaken-celebrity-identities-zooey-deschanel_n_3157470.html
@Liv But it’s one thing to mistake a person for another person if they actually resemble that person as with some of the people you posted the link about. But, SLJ and LF look nothing alike. As for the Dylan McDermott or Dermot Mulroney thing, that has been a long running gag. It didn’t start because people said they looked alike it was that their names were similar. That’s why people were getting those two confused.
Also if you’re a journalist you should know something about the person you are interviewing. It’s one thing to look at a celeb or a pic and think it’s another person. If you’re interviewing someone you should know the difference, there’s no acceptable excuse for that.
Yeah, but the question is if the reporter didn’t know the difference because he’s racist or uninformed and I think it’s the latter. I also think that Meryl Streep and Glenn Close look as much alike as Jackson and Fishbone – that is to say not at all 😉
Is it the reporter’s job to know better? Yes, of course. But I really don’t get why people want him to be fired or something. We all make mistakes and I bet he will be prepared better next time.
Sam Jackson and Larry Fishburne look nothing alike. Larry looks like a smooth handsome guy. Sam looks like a cranky ‘bitch please’ type of guy. It’s like saying Brad Pitt and Jimmy Kimmel look alike.
I see someone’s fishing people; don’t take the bait.
@Nikkie my comment wasn’t directed at you. It was a response to a comment that has now been removed.
“Sam looks like a cranky ‘bitch please’ type of guy.” Lol!
I think Jackson looks magnificent, and Fishburne’s always struck me as more sensuous.
I really can’t see the resemblance!
Neither can I. There’s is no resemblence at all. I mean aside from the fact that they’re both men? I dunno. This was a fail of EPIC proportions. And i mean Samuel L Jackson is a pretty prolific actor. I dunno.
way back when I might have confused them a bit, but not recently. Laurence F. seems classier, where Samuel J seems loud and crass these days.
What does personality have to do with it? They look absolutely nothing alike.
Personality is Everything, you have your opinion on who looks a like and I have mine, shoo fly.
Oh, you’re one of those people who thinks that opinions can’t be criticized. I won’t waste my time.
No…they don’t even look a little alike….Shit!!!
@ Liv
I agree, I think the guy really just made an honest mistake and I do not think he is racist. He apologized to Sam L. at least 10 times during the interview. Sam L. needed to accept the apology and let it go, instead of being a bit of a drama queen. I guess Sam L. thinks he’s perfect and has never made a mistake in his life right? Come on. People get celeb’s names mixed up all the time. I know he is a reporter and I’m sure he got plenty of sh*t for his mistake, but racism is NOT the case in this situation.
Are you f*cking kidding me?
idk, IMO Jackson took it easy on the ignorant twit!
@ Sloane Wyatt – you have your opinion and I have mine. That whole thing was really blown way out of proportion IMO.
I apologize, idk. You are right.
The F word was uncalled for here. GoodNames showed me the way up thread, and I am henceforth curbing my excesses.
I got the impression that Jackson wasn’t exactly chewing the guy out. I think the F-bombs might have fallen if that were the case. He WAS aghast that this “professional” made such a stupid mistake but didn’t seem genuinely angry about it. Instead he made the decision to give the guy a good roasting/ribbing – made him feel uncomfortable for as long as possible to get the point across that he should do his homework next time. The people in the studio laughing were encouragement for him to continue because, like all performers, he liked that he was entertaining them. I actually got the impression, because he didn’t unplug and walk right then (it would not have been unreasonable), that he wasn’t really mad – maybe even a little sympathetic to this old white guy’s ignorance. lol
My impression was Samuel L was genuinely sick and tired of being sick and tired, so he decided to ridicule this offensive nonsense and use this as a ‘teachable moment’, mytbean.
He’s been confused for other Black actors several times before by Whites who didn’t bother to tell the GROUP in their head of Black actors apart. Mr. Jackson was NOT HAVING IT, especially after having been interviewed by Rubin several times through the years for cripes sake!!!
He knows he’s the subject of many a Viral Video. Mr. Jackson is an extremely intelligent man, so ran with the opportunity to draw a line in the sand and make his mo fo point to Mr. Wool Between His Ears, Sam Rubin.
Uuuuuuhhhh…no. I’m giving you my incredulous look right now.
No, they look NOTHING alike.
They have zero features in common. They’re both black men, just like how Christopher Walken and John Travolta are both white men. They look NOTHING alike.
MOTHERF*CKING NO!
That was OFF CAMERA, Stef Leppard
Mr. L. Jackson’s not taking that shit, and neither would I!
Samuel L.Jackson Losing His Shit Montage – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9P2RbBRwWJs
They neither look a like nor sound a like, the reporter deserved it. Know who you’re interviewing is basic journalism 101.
^^^^^^ x 100000.
Yeah, you think the voice may have tipped him off.
Definitely. But I don’t think it’s a racist thing like some are saying… there are quite a few white actors/actresses that I confuse for one-another. Brittany Snow & Amy Smart. Victoria Justice & Nina Dobrev. I used to get Chris Evans & Channing Tatum mixed up, but I’ve got that figured out now.
Though I’ve never thought that Samuel & Lawrence looked alike!
But those actors that you named actually bear a resemblence to each other. Victoria justice and Nina Dobrev? the could be sisters. Same for Amy smart and Brittany Snow. I mean these men literally bear NO resemblence to each other. I don’t think it was racist. I think it was s@**ty journalism.
+1 @CaribbeanLaura. It’s one thing if two people bare a resemblence but Jackson and Fishburne looks nothing alike. Along with the people you mention some people say that Nicole Kidman and Naomi Watts look similar or Ian Somerhalder and Rob Lowe look similar; now that’s not a far stretch. But these two male actors, that’s pushing it.
Amy Adams and Isla Fischer too!
But yeah, I don’t think sam and Lawrence look a like at all.
@Ziggy:
But is your job as a reporter on the entertainment business? I used to get Bill Paxton and Bill Pullman mixed up all the time. But if my JOB was on the line, you can bet I’d have figured it out prior to interviewing either of them. This guy is lazy and racist. So glad Sam let him have it with both barrels.
V4Real, people used to say two of my friends and I would look like sisters. We didn’t look alike. People see things differently. Just because you (and I) think they do not look alike, doesn’t mean that other people can’t mistake them for one another.
I agree with you CaribbeanLaura. Not racist, but definitely lazy journalism.
They don’t even have the same skin tone. I mean that would be like mixing up someone with fair skin and someone with more olive complexion. That’s why it is racist. All he sees is black. Plus, these are well-established, A-list actors who have been around a long time. Many of the actors/actresses people are mentioning are much younger and not necessarily A-list. This guy, as the entertainment reporter, should know the difference without having to do research.
@Liv Saying LF and SLJ look alike is like saying Tom Cruise looks like Tom Ford. I know people see things differently but even Stevie Wonder can see these two men do not look alike.
Now if one say hey these people look alike I probably would laugh my ass off.
http://www.collegehumor.com/post/6876747/dog-may-actually-be-samuel-l-jackson
http://cheezburger.com/4018156032?ref=leftarrow&siteId=9
I actually could understand if someone would mistake Tom Ford for Tom Cruise 😉
I guess we just don’t agree here.
I confuse Sean Penn and SLJ all the time :)!
It’s a local Fox News station, which explains everything, IMO, LMAO.
oh well that says it all…
It may be a local Fox Station but I don’t think the reporter is just local. I’m Canadian and I’ve heard of Sam Rubin.
Fox, not local, (for emphasis) was the point.
*whistles* as it flies overhead, Kiddo.
+1 @ Kiddo; he probably did it on purpose. I wouldn’t put it pass the people who work for FOX.
@Kiddo – You’re 1000% wrong! KTLA is part of the CW network. The local Fox station is Channel 11. I watch KTLA, and Sam every morning.
I’m not local, there. My bad. I looked it up quickly and got incorrect info. But the CW is as bad as Fox here in the NY metro. lol
But you are right, BIG mistake on my part:
KTLA, channel 5, is a CW-affiliated television station located in Los Angeles, California, United States. The station is owned by the Tribune Broadcasting subsidiary of the Tribune Company, the parent of which owns the Los Angeles Times and has some news-sharing agreements between the newspaper and KTLA.
Maybe they ALL look the same to me. LOL
Thanks for the correct network, iheartjacksparrow!
Annoying. Honestly.
I wish this had Kanye or DMX confused with someone else, their reactions would of been classic.
Ugh, can you imagine? I’m actually very glad that SLJ handled it with humor. He showed a lot of class by doing that.
Extremely classy and educational too!
If Rubin manages to stay employed instead of jeered off the Air, I’d bet my sweet bippy he’ll never make the ‘y’all look alike’ mistake EVER again. – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1G9FFi6pSyk
+1
Wow. Just wow. That reporter is getting his walking papers.
I’d be pissed too. This happened to my mom. My older sister, who is as lily-white as I am, worked at our local newspaper (she delivered papers). My mom is the same color as Samuel L. My sister’s BOSS came up to my mom in the post office and started talking to my mom about newspaper deliveries–my mom had no clue who the woman was or why she was talking to her about newspapers, until the woman stopped and said that she thought that my mom was my sister….
Not only are they not the same shade—my sister has green eyes and wavy black hair, while my mom has dark brown eyes and dreadlocks.
Wtf?
The guy sounds like an ass Virgilia; I’m sorry that happened to your mom.
My friend and I both have red hair, but that’s where the similarities end (well, we’re white). We had just made a new friend (who was not white) and she argued with my redhead friend one day when she was corrected after she had mistaken my friend for me. She actually had the gall to argue it after being corrected! Did she think she was being lied to? I was totally unaware of this, so I was surprised when this woman quit speaking to me and treated me as though I had done something wrong. I’m guessing now that she was just horrifically embarrassed by her mistake and the way she handled it.
I am glad that the journalist was immediately contrite and handled the ribbing graciously.
This used to happen to my sister and me all the time. She is taller, darker, and extremely curvy – a total hourglass with DD breasts. I am shorter, paler than most white people (this is what people still say to me all the time), and extremely skinny with barely A cup breasts. My sister also has a small oval face, big eyes and lips, and long, naturally wavy, black hair. I have a big, angular face with small eyes and lips, and short, naturally straight brown hair. Teachers, students, acquaintances, strangers, and occasional “friends” would confuse the two of us all the time, because people saw us as a Korean/Asian first and last, even though we were polar opposites in looks, style, and personality. These kinds of mistakes are not always racism, but they are always out of ignorance and laziness combined with indifference.
That’s why my mom was so pissed off about it. Me, my sister, and my mom all share the same facial features and build–so if you looked at us you would think that we were related, no doubt. But they aren’t even NEARLY the same skin color. My sister looks like a Italian girl (she’s half Italian). My mom looks like she’s black. There is absolutely no rhyme or reason for someone to confuse them. I could see mixing up their names–but the woman actually thought my mom WAS my sister.
Which makes no sense–she’s seen and interacted with my sister.
I can’t decide if it is laziness or racism or both–but we get that a lot where I live.
Virgilia, I had to laugh at your comment. Holy hell, your sister’s boss is pretty STOOPID (as I like to refer to people who are honestly wtf stupid).
My dad’s side of the family always mixes me and my sister up. They will come up to us and say “Which one are you?” It really upsets my mom, firstly because my sister and I only vaguely resemble each other, and secondly, it’s f’ing rude! Granted we rarely see that side of the family but I think next time I see any of them and they ask “which one are you?”, I’ll respond with, “Which one are YOU? Oh, the stoopid one obviously”…. Can you tell I’m not really a fan of that side of the family ;).
P.S. What I really take away from this article, is that some people are just lazy/ignorant/too rude and self-involved to bother with learning AND remembering other peoples names and faces.
ENTERTAINMENT GUY SHOULD BE FIRED.. Someone else probably prepared the questions and he just went along with them. Epic fail. Samuel Jackson totally justified – plus he handled it well.
Fired ? Oh come on…he just made a mistake. He did not say anything racist and he apologized many many times. Like you’ve never mixed up people’s names before? Ever? Yeah right.
Well, in any other field this is ground enough for firing. Making one´s employer look stupid & unprofessional IS enough to be jobless. Reputation is everything. #RealTalk
Yeah but this is not the “real world”…it’s Hollywood…so different rules from what I see. He definitely should be reprimanded but not fired…not for that.
I’d be shocked if someone in his pay-grade is fired… but you can guarantee that his intern and/or assistant is now unemployed or majorly demoted.
It was completely the reporter’s fault, and he was lazy and quite stupid, and I don’t blame Samuel Jackson for being annoyed, but I don’t think it’s fair to pull out the “oh we all look alike” card whenever a white person confuses one black person for another. I don’t know any white person who actually believes that all black people look alike, and I doubt that has been said for 50 years. I confuse one white person for another fairly often. Of course, not when I’m interviewing them, but I don’t think it’s fair to assume the reporter was racist just from that.
But if you think of how the reporter confused the two it does suggest the dreaded r-word. As someone downthread mentioned they are both two well-established, critically acclaimed actors who have two very different bodies of work. It would sort of be like confusing Brad Pitt and George Clooney (not saying that SJ and LF are as famous as those two just pointing out that BP and GC have two VERY different career trajectories). It would actually make more sense to confuse the latter two because their careers have converged.
The reporter, likely conflated the two because he was likely thinking that they are two black, male, older actors who don’t register high enough for him on the importance meter for him to bother figuring out the difference between them. And although you may not personally know white people regularly confuse black people for one another you’d be surprised at the number of times that has happened to me and the majority of the other black folks that I am related to or know or am colleagues with. And in situations that are similar to the scenarios that Virgilia Coriolanus described above: whether we are light skinned or dark skinned we get mistaken for each other because our racial categorization is what people notice first and foremost. And I work in a field that places a primacy on the act of looking.
I have to give him a little credit. He also tweeted an apology and said he deserved it and more, and he said he has interviewed Jackson before and basically made no excuses and bashed himself again over it.
@Renee
You make a good point. I hadn’t thought about that way. I was comparing it to when I, as a white person, confuse two white people for one another. That’s usually just laziness on my part, or bad memory. But I see your point about how the reporter may have just filed them away as black actors of a certain age, and how the main thing someone might remember about you is your race. And how that might make you feel. So thank you for showing me another viewpoint.
That’s pretty cool, GoodNamesI I think you are one of the most thoughtful posters around on Celebitchy.
We don’t always come down on the same side of an opinion, but I admire your curiosity and your willingness to learn. I especially admire your measured comments, and I’m inspired to be more unflappable like you.
Thank you, Sloan Wyatt. That was very kind and it means a lot to me. I enjoy your posts as well, and think you have a lot of depth and passion.
@Good, you gotta admit that it happens a lot with black people. Yvette Nicole Brown is always getting confused with Octavia Spencer or Sherri Shepherd. To say nothing of those wrongfully picked out of a line-up by white eye-witnesses.
One poor old lady was shot in the face. Point blank. She picked a black guy out of the line-up (after he was picked up when the cops stopped at a basketball court and called out a name. They were looking for an Andre’, he answered, so of course he was the guy). Long story short, the guy she picked didn’t do it, even though to this day she swears that he did. The actual criminal confessed, BTW.
Yes, I didn’t even think about the type of example that you’ve raised, that’s a really salient point. There are, unfortunately, countless examples of this.
Yes, I see what you mean.
I castigate people for not being able to tell us apart, but (this reporters aside) it’s usually from a place of ignorance rather than downright racism. As an example, when Lupita first came up on CB, there were posts that said she looked like Alek Wek!!!
Not many, but still……..
Now that CB has familiarised her to everyone, i’m sure people can see that they look nothing alike.
I don’t always ascribe bad intentions to people who can’t tell us apart though I might bristle that they do because I have been equally ignorant with people from the Far East in the past. Specifically Chinese/Korean/Japanese. I can tell them apart now, but for a long time I couldn’t. And that was pure ignorance and a modicum of laziness on my part.
@ LAK
I love your honesty and intelligence. This incident was not a case of racism, it was a mistake and he apologized. It happens.
@idk
I would be more convinced that it was a mistake, if he hadn’t complimented Samuel L. on the commercial that Laurence Fishbourne did…..they look absolutely nothing alike, except in the fact that they are both black. They’re not even the same skin color OR the same build. They look absolutely nothing alike. This is a case of ‘all black people look alike’—as an entertainment reporter he should know better.
@ Virgilia Coriolanus
I agree he should have known better. He has interviewed Sam L at least 10 times before this, so he is familiar with him. He really just made a mistake…I don’t think there was any racist intent in this particular situation.
“I don’t think it’s fair to pull out the “oh we all look alike” card whenever a white person confuses one black person for another. “- goodnamesalltaken
The day you can show me NEWS CLIP after news clip of White Celebrities being mistaken for another White celeb, that’s the day when I’d give Sam Rubin the benefit of the doubt.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nE4D3vo0RQE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8PLaeMocB4
AND this doesn’t even begin to scratch the surface of how white privilege plays out on TV!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cB-YKx0_-ZM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2IU0C7iX14
If he looks like Lawrence Fishburne then I look like Isla Fisher. What? We’re both white women.
Oh, this is a good game!
If SLJ looks like LB, Sixer looks like Cate Blanchett. Honestly, she’s my doppelganger.
dibs on looking like Halle Berry! haha
I like this game!
If SLJ looks like LF, then I look like Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, since we’re both brown women and all. LOL
Oooooh I’m in. If SLJ looks like LF then I CaribbeanLaura look like Lupita N’yongo. I’m the newest it girl haven’t you heard! 😉
Laura for the Celeb!tchy win!
If SLJ looks like LF then I look like Jennifer Lawrence…..my hubby looks like a Hemsworth 😉
If SLJ looks like LF, then I’m separated at birth from Charlize Theron. We are like Two Peas in a Pod!
Really, we look alike as much as Jessica Simpson and Katy Perry.
If SLJ looks like LF, I look like Angelina Jolie in her “Gia” days! I get mistaken for her ALL the time, it’s such a pain. 😉
If SLJ looks like LF, then I look like Emma Thompson.
Even if they were strikingly similar looking, shouldn’t this guy have known who he was interviewing? Just by name, alone? I would bet that information was somewhere in front of him. Way to phone it in, guy.
Sam Rubin should know his facts. Sam Jackson and Laurence Fishburne are well established, critically well regarded actors. Fishburnes first role was in Apocalypse Now when he was 15? He was actually underage and lied to get the role I believe. He deserved the drubbing he received. I have mad respect for Sam Jackson handling it so well on live television no less.
Ouch, just…ouch. Although it’s probably not about them looking alike, more likely this guy didn’t even watch the commercials and has six interns doing his research. Not necessarily racist, just lazy. He comes across looking pretty racist though, yikes.
He’s no neophyte, he’s been a Hollywood sycophant for years. What an embarrassing blunder.
I think you’d have to be a lazy idiot to not be able to tell Lawrence Fishburne and Sam L. Jackson apart but I also feel that way about Matt Damon and Mark Wahlberg. And look how many people screw them up?
This reporter is clearly a fool though since entertainment is his business.
Lol @ Germoney.
I like how Sam Rubin tried to laugh it off and Samuel L. Jackson was hearing none of it.
Samuel L. Jackson and Lawerence Fishbourne, no; Beyonce and Kim K and Shakira and JLo, yes!
Samuel L. Jackson gave me life in that clip!!!! I love that he wouldn’t let up on him either…just when you think it’s over…BAM!
thats funny because Jackson was mixed up with Fishburne in Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchants “Extras”, they also had Kate Winslet winning on Oscar for a holocaust movie, which also happened. And some english celeb being on Celeb Big Brother, which also happened this year.
i cant speak on this issue, im well aware that black people are sensitive to this but i needed years to find out that Al Pacino and Robert de Niro are not the same person. Same for Leslie Nielsen and Steve Martin (i still think those two look like twins)
When I was younger I used to think that Al pacino was like an actual real life Mob boss. just by the name. I later realised that the person was really Al Capone. Kids amirite?
Well, they are almost anagrams for each other. Maybe that’s why you made the connection!
I was thinking about that ‘Extras’ episode too 😀
He definitely should have been solid on who he was interviewing, especially as a journalist; but to be honest there are so many white actors and actresses I sometimes get mixed up. And I’m white!
Exactly ! That doesn’t make you a racist does it? I admit, he’s a reporter and should have done his research, but hey people make mistakes and he apologized. This does not make the guy a racist. People are really stretching here.
You seem really invested in proving that Rubin could NEVER possibly be racist & that people are just STUPID to think so, judging by some of the comments you left on this thread.
Unless you were exposed to it (racism & being lumped as being all the same because of one´s skin color), you wouldn´t KNOW how it feels like.
Even if he wasn´t racist, he certainly came accross so, him being a long standing Hollywood reporter. He has no excuses & nothing can justify his mistakes since SJL & LF ARE some of the most well-known black actors in the world.
People have the right to feel sensitive about this. & it´s not for you or anyone else to tell them how they SHOULD take it.
You don´t look good going on & on about it. :/
@ Ahot
This is a blog where people are allowed to discuss and leave comments. You read ALL the comments so you must come here for that as well.
I only gave my personal OPINION, which everyone has a right to. I just stated that I don’t think he’s racist and that he truly just made a mistake. I never said people who think he is racist are STUPID. Don’t put words in my mouth.
I have been exposed to racist morons my whole life and know very well what it feels like to be lumped into one big category. In this particular situation, I don’t think that was the case. I have had enough experience to know when it is racism and when it’s not. You can choose to believe what you want. I never said people didn’t have the right to feel “sensitive” about this topic. Once again, stop putting words in my mouth.
This is a blog, who cares who on here “looks good” or doesn’t “look good”. We don’t know each other in real life! By the way, you also posted multiple replies to people. so please don’t be a hypocrite. The comments are what make this blog interesting. Have a nice day.
*nervously, desperately trying to change the subject* “OK….Lets talk about Robocop”
“OH HEEEELLLLL NO!”
Best part of this hands down
LOL! that was funny as hell.
I wonder if people got the McDonald’s and KFC reference…
Yes, that was everything! & I don´t think Rubin´s defense line up got those references.
🙂 SLJ was on fire. Love him.
God I laughed so hard reading SLJ’s response. He is good.
How come so many people refuse to acknowledge truth. Sam Jackson is one of the hardest working actors in show business. People who are saying “I dont think it’s racist” because you dont want it to be racist. However it is what it is. It was completely offensive for this guy to do this to a man with such credits to his name. These men look NOTHING alike and the cousins comment is just ignorant being that there are black people that have white cousins. Would you mix them up? This nitwit had a job to do and failed. So disgraceful. I’m glad Sammy put him in check.. Bet he’ll do his homework next time.
Its with you. I don’t why (white) people want to defend this.
Could hear his voice in my head as he scolded this reporter. He handles this so well and it is hilarious how he is talking to this reporter.
Not defending per se but sometimes I get confused trying to remember who played whom in what, and not for any particular race. That’s just a bad memory and/or a poor eye for faces (face blindness basically), but then I’ve never had to interview an actor. If I did I might have their IMDB page in front of me as a crib sheet. 🙂
(If you want an example of my poor judgment on who an actor is I spent all of First Wives Club thinking Elizabeth Berkley was Sarah Jessica Parker and I’m the same race as them.)
But weren’t they both in that movie? And besides, its not like its your JOB to know the difference, unlike the interviewer. Just sayin.
Of course. That’s why I said if it WERE my job I might do a little research to avoid embarrassment, knowing that weakness of mine.
I don’t think confusing a black person for another black person, or a white person for another white person makes someone a racist, that is a huge stretch.
It is a huge case of lazy reporting and Samuel L. Jackson justifiably let him have it.
Sam is the man. Rubin deserves every thing he is getting in response to his blunder. All black people do not look alike and as a man who makes his living in Hollywood, he should have known better.
^THIS^.
This is too funny, you’ve got to love Sam! I totally got the McDonalds and KFC reference too lol.
After this how could you not love Lawrence Fishbuern.
*gets a tap on the shoulder and told this story is about Samuel L Jackson*
After this how could you not love Samuel L Jackson.
😀
They really don’t look alike but still I can’t remember which one was in The Matrix. I mix actors up all the time. But then again I’m not an entertainment reporter.
This is fantastic – That reporter deserved the roast he got too. That’s HIS JOB! LOL!
On the same note – my husband can’t discern between one blonde/brunette/red headed woman and another if there happens to be more than one in a show. He gets confused.
SLJ is at the stage in his career where he can be honest in his opinions without due consequences. He used it wisely in this particular situation.
I think that the people claiming that mistaking someone for another of the same race is not racism are white because if you were a minority, you’d understand the sensitivity around this matter. As a black person, i’ve been mistaken for other black people (by whites) my whole life. And nine times out of ten i look nothing like the people described.
When I was an actor in college I was compared to a young James Earl Jones, Jeffrey Wright, Laurence Fisburne and Urkel (because I wore glasses). How can i look like all of these men, you ask? I don’t.
White people get mistaken for other white people too. There are a lot of white actors/actresses who I have mistaken for other white actors and actresses. It has nothing to do with racism in this case. Of course, there are always some idiots who are racist and see all people of one race the same way. I find it hard to believe you never mistakenly did this.
Neelyo, there’s this youtube account presenting videos of its talents for celebrity lookalikes. One guy is impersonating Laurence Fishburne in Matrix. If you check the other vids he also does impressions of Kanye and another black celeb (a British athlete), forgot his name. He does not even look like the guys he is playing, he just happens to be black. Is there a shortage of black guys in England? I bet that this guy would also play Keenan Thompson if someone requested for that. Then there’s this Jackie Chan lookalike who looks like some random Asian guy. He sports a semibald haircut and he’s not even Chinese, he’s Filipino. It’s like any Asian men would pass for Jackie Chan or Jet Li cause “they all look alike” anyway.
Neelyo,
I agree with your post. And it’s usually that without a doubt you will remind the person of the ONE other black person that they know. It doesn’t matter who it is.
But OF COURSE you are just being too sensitive because this happens to white people too, you know. It’s not racism AT ALL. Never mind the numerous people of color throughout this thread who have spoken about this happening to them. None of them knows what they are talking about.
You are an entertainment reporter and you don’t know who Sam Jackson is? Come one!!! Please get another gig.
oh, I love SLJ ……but very disappointed buy his reaction.
Alright, I’m a WOC and usually I find these sort of mix-ups kind of racist and if not racist downright ignorant and tinged with racism. BUT, as a native Angeleno….I can tell you Rubin is the BIGGEST MORON to exist. I honestly think Sam just made a mistake, because he’s a giant dumbass, and wasn’t being racist in the slightest.
I agree. In this case, it was just a case of pure stupidity
The reporter gave a lengthy apology after the interview was over. He was clearly embarrassed and said he was wrong etc. so case closed here. Though I would have been pissed too had he mistaken me with someone else. And don’t we white people all look alike to non-white people? I’m not saying everyone is like this but I always assumed it’s harder to tell people apart who are not from your own race (not excusing the reporter’s mistake he should have known better)That’s what I’ve always thought anyways.
How can you interview a star without knowing who he is? I don´t get it.
My list of shame:
– The Klitschko brothers, i don´t know who is who. I can´t figure it out.
– Javier Bardem = Jeffrey Dean Morgan
– Jamie King = Jamie Pressly =Amy Smart = Brittany Snow (they all could be one person for me)
– Rachel Bilson = Mila Kunis
– Katie McGrath = Jessica Brown Findlay = Jennifer Connelly
– Emily Blunt = Sarah Paulson
How could he not know who Samuel L. jackson is? The guy played Mandela in Invictus.
Ha. That was fantastic. Well done.
I am a huge SLJ fan, but I think he took it too far. The guy made a mistake and deserved to be corrected and spanked. Making it into a racial slap was going too far, imo. He just screwed up. No need to make it into something it wasn’t. Call him a dumbshit, tease him a little and move on.
I agree.
It could very well be a screw up and not deliberate at all. In that case, you’re right, Jordan and idk; that’s all it is.
At best, what we’ve got here with Sam Ronin’s ‘gaffe’ is just ignorance. Then, it simply indicates Sam Ronin’s lack of exposure to Black people. Again, at best, Sam Ronin is ignorant and lazy at his job. Except, here you have an Entertainment Reporter from FOX (a network infamous for its racism), and this willful ignorance is exactly the intersection where ignorance really becomes a problem.
This is the crossroads where “You all look alike” mistaken identity crosses over. If you are on TV for a Living and can’t tell the difference between from the same race, that’s when ignorance crosses over into laziness, and THAT’S clear cut racism.
Again, at best, Sam Ronin is ignorant and lazy at his job. Except, here you have an Entertainment Reporter from FOX (a network infamous for its racism), and this willful ignorance is exactly the intersection where ignorance really becomes a problem.
——————————–
That could very well be Sloane Wyatt. I just think sometimes people are quick to label someone a racist, when it’s just as plausible that the guy is a moron who isn’t very good at his job. Maybe he is a racist. But I don’t think this incident is proof of it, That is all I’m saying.
I hear you, Jordan.
The irony here is an hour later after this poorly done interview, Sam Rubin wrote in his apology letter that he’s interviewed Sam L. several times over the years!
I don’t know Rubin personally, so I can’t attest with certainty he’s a racist. However, he epitomizes the typical White privileged male literally not seeing and identifying Black men as individuals. It’s a racist act to see POC as interchangeable beings with identical appearances. Rubin may not have even realized he views POC as groups of interchangeable people with similar characteristics, but he certainly knows now!
FYI, Rubin is on the CW Network, not FOX. If Rubin manages to stay employed instead of jeered off the Air, I’d bet my sweet bippy he’ll never make the ‘y’all look alike’ mistake EVER again.
FYI, Rubin is on the CW Network, not FOX. If Rubin manages to stay employed instead of jeered off the Air, I’d bet my sweet bippy he’ll never make the ‘y’all look alike’ mistake EVER again.
———-
HA! I think you are right!
And thank you for conveying your opinion with tact and class even though we don’t totally agree. Some on here could learn from you.
Cheers!
Where’s my m*therf*ckin’ Mimosa’!? Gah, it’s around here somewhere, damnit!
Jordan, Shiit!! That’s all you had to say! 😮
Samuel L.Jackson Losing His Shit – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9P2RbBRwWJs
Great fan you are Jordan, telling someone who felt negated by a long standing reporter of his field how he should feel. If his (really understandable) reaction made you incomfortable, maybe you should ask yourself why. -_-
I never said it made me uncomfortable, I said he took it too far and jumped the gun on it being racial. Big difference.
How can you confuse Morpheus with Jules? On top of everything, that’s an insult to iconic move roles!
I KNOW right? Blasphemy, really! 🙂
the men look nothing alike. one is fat, light skinned with hair and bad acne and a gap! the other is skinnyish, dark skinned, and bald. The only thing these men have in common is that they’re both tall and have been in sci-fi movies.
Sometimes people do make honest mistakes. However, he is a reporter and therefore should do some research before he interviews these people. And secondly Sam Jackson is pretty famous. Fishburne I would say isn’t AS famous but he’s had some pretty big roles. Its not like they are both nobodies. How do you mix them up?
Just saw a credit card commercial with “that other black actor but you don’t actually see him” doing a voice over and cracked up thinking about what Samuel L. had to say.
Everything is racist, everything. A lily white man gave me the wrong order at a restaurant yesterday, being half Cuban I haven’t figured out how it’s racist yet but just give me a minute.
Oh come now, Rayche. No, not “everything is racist, everything!”
It’s not, Rayche. My first job as a young teen was waitressing. I was such a terrible waitress that I got fired 3x in a row before I finally was able to land a job as a Hostess!
Perhaps I saw a different interview, but my understanding was that Rubin was asking SLJ about the Captain America trailer that aired during the super bowl, but instead of specifically saying that, he mentioned a super bowl commercial…which SLJ didn’t have, but LF did. So, the whole thing seemed like a miscommunication to me. Did I miss something?
The interviewer should have known he was talking to but they are both hugely prolific actors and maybe that’s caused the confusion? I get muddled up with Bill Pullman/Paxman and, until last week, I was convinced that Channing Tatum was the dude from Twilight.
It’s interesting coming to certain blogs and seeing how most of the commenters are feminists, pro-gay, worldly, and cultured about most things except racism. Once race (especially white vs black) race is even hinted, most commenters turn into pearl-clutching conservatives who don’t “believe” in racism (as if it’s the Tooth Fairy or a religion). No, if there aren’t white sheets, lynching and burning crosses involved then it can’t possibly be racism. Funny that there can be so many tiny things that can make one homophobic or chauvinistic, but not racist.
Interesting.
Game show contestants are even worse. Is he Will Smith or a white Spaniard/Frenchman?
http://youtu.be/Z1S0bDE_XgE
There is such a thing as being gracious when others make a mistake.
To be honest, I remembered Sam L as the guy from the Matrix for years. I saw it once when I was 12, and remembered it as SLJ until I was 22 and saw it again, and was like, OOOPS, that’s not SLJ. I can see SLJ pulling off Morpheus!
I loved SLJ as Mace Windu in the Star Wars movies, and I loved his defense of his purple lightsaber.