Samuel L Jackson’s riposte to the man who mistook him for Laurence Fishburne is priceless
The interviewer would never call Hugh Grant Colin Firth. But you know how it is – all blacks, Chinese, Japanese, Asians, look alike
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Watch this interview on YouTube. It made me laugh, cheer and want to throw a stiletto-heeled shoe at the screen. This chap Sam Rubin – boring side-parting, suit, a bit full of himself – is an entertainment reporter on the American TV channel KTLA.
He interviews stars, live. Samuel L Jackson was on last week. Rubin got him all mixed up with that other black dude, Laurence Fishburne. Now Mr Rubin would never call Hugh Grant Colin Firth, or see Winona Ryder and Anne Hathaway as interchangeable. But you know how it is – all blacks, Chinese, Japanese, Asians, look alike.
(I am mistaken for the celebrity cook, Madhur Jaffrey, 80. A mistake, I can see, very easily made.)
London Fashion Week will have perhaps only one or maybe two black models and no one will feel any shame. Beauties of colour, like actors of colour, are all the same and representative. Naomi Campbell is not just a fab model, but the face of an unnamed ethnic tribe, African and Caribbean nations, a symbol of redress and equality.
As long as she and a few more sisters – Joan Smalls, Betty Adewole, Alek Wek – get to strut on catwalks, the fashion world feels content, untroubled by its proven failures of imagination and inclusivity. A friend who is in the fashion business overheard a fashion hack saying she just loved “Alek Adewole, the new Naomi”. See? Three for one.
As Jackson said sardonically to flapping Rubin: “We may all be black but we don’t all look alike.” Geddit?
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments