Samuel L. Jackson dismisses Joe Rogan's apology for using the N-word: 'It's not the context, dude'

• Samuel L. Jackson dismissed Joe Rogan's apology for using the N-word.
• Jackson told The Sunday Times that Rogan's context for using the word was not good enough.

Samuel L. Jackson criticized Joe Rogan's apology for using the N-word in an interview with The Sunday Times.

Earlier this month, Rogan came under fire after R&B artist India Arie posted a compilation video of Rogan, who is white, saying the racial slur 24 times. Rogan responded with an Instagram video apologizing for using the word and saying he hadn't used the slur for years after learning the harm of the word.

However, he said that the compilation video removed the context of using the racial slur, which he said was to help the audience know what he is talking about.

In an interview to promote his upcoming AppleTV series "The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey," Jackson told The Sunday Times that the podcast host should have just apologized rather than mention that there was context to using the slur.

"He is saying nobody understood the context when he said it," Jackson said. "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."

Rogan also said on his podcast, "The Joe Rogan Experience," that the video was a "political hit job" in light of the criticism the host is facing for sharing COVID-19 misinformation.

Jackson continued in the interview: "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 then referenced Quentin Tarantino's movie "Django Unchained" as an example where a white person should use the N-word. Jackson said that during the rehearsal Leonardo DiCaprio wasn't sure if he could say the N-word multiple times in the movie, so, Jackson and Tarantino encouraged him to do it.

The 73-year-old actor continued: "Every time someone wants an example of overuse of the N-word, they go to Quentin — it's unfair. He's just telling the story and the characters do talk like that. When Steve McQueen does it, it's art. He's an artiste. Quentin's just a popcorn filmmaker."

Tarantino, who is also white, has come under criticism in the past for the frequent use of the N-word in his movies. In 2019, Jackson came to his defense in an interview with Esquire saying that you can't tell a writer that they can't "put the words in the mouths of the people from their ethnicities, the way that they use their words."

"The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey" premieres on Apple TV on March 11.