Actor Samuel L. Jackson criticizes Joe Rogan's repeated use of the N-word on his podcast The Joe Rogan Experience. Jackson is one of the most recognizable actors of his generation, and also the highest grossing actor off all time. Sometimes it can feel as though its hard to find a movie that Jackson hasn't starred in, as he has had roles in what seems like almost every defining film since his career began, including Nick Fury in the MCU, Mace Windu in Star Wars, and, of course, appearing in the majority of Quentin Tarantino films. As a successful Black actor, Jackson has used his influence over the years to frequently campaign for equal rights, along with many other social issues.
Rogan, on the other hand, is no stranger to controversy. Throughout his stand-up, podcasting, and television career, he has been known to make passionate statements that he later has to go back and correct. Recently, Rogan has been in the spotlight after recording artist India Arie shared a video compilation of every time Rogan used the N-word on his podcast The Joe Rogan Experience. Of course, it would be shocking to hear a white person casually say this word even once, but the podcasting giant did it no less than twenty-two times across various episodes. This has lead to much backlash for the creator from both listeners and other celebrities, including Dwayne Johnson.
In a recent interview with the Sunday Times (via ET Canada), Jackson himself joins the conversation about Rogan using the racial slur. His stance on the matter is simple: "[T]here is no context where a white person is ever allowed to say that word." He goes on to criticize Rogan's excuse of listeners not understanding the context in which he sit, as for Jackson, it's not the context that matters, but "that he was comfortable doing it." He concludes by saying that the only time it could possibly be okay to say that word is if a story truly calls for it, stating "a story is context — but just to elicit a laugh? That’s wrong." See his full quote below:
There is no context where a white person is ever allowed to say that word, never mind publicly on a podcast. He is saying nobody understood the context when he said it. But he shouldn’t have said it. It’s not the context, dude — it’s that he was comfortable doing it. Say that you’re sorry because you want to keep your money, but you were having fun and you say you did it because it was entertaining. It needs to be an element of what the story is about. A story is context — but just to elicit a laugh? That’s wrong.
Jackson's view about a story providing context for the use of the N-word is not new, as he has often stated this when explaining Tarantino's controversial and frequent use of the word in his scripts. To provide contrast from Rogan's situation, he has also tells a story about the filming of Django Unchained, in which actor Leonardo DiCaprio felt uncomfortable having to repeatedly say the N-Word. Jackson recalls that, after DiCaprio expressed his reservations, Jackson simply told him, "you have to." The fact remains that Rogan did not have to.
Jackson's standpoint is absolutely justified - Rogan did not have to say the word at all on his podcast, and yet he said it over twenty times. The comedian has since apologized for the remarks, though his apology was somewhat criticized, as he almost immediately turned around and called the incident a "political hit job" on The Joe Rogan Experience. He has asserted that he believes his fans will understand his misstep, saying that they will know that he was just trying to be funny. Of course, as Jackson pointed out, trying to be funny is no real excuse.
Source: Sunday Times (via ET Canada)