From the sound of their transcript, it appears they looped him in in real time:

NYM: What do you think about the controversy surrounding the name of Rick Perry’s hunting camp?

SLJ: How do I not know about it? What’s the name?

NYM: I’ll show it to you.

SLJ: Niggerhead?

NYM: Yes. Does that surprise you?

SLJ: No.

Echoing the sentiments of many of the sources in the original WaPo article, Jackson seemed to view the name as just a fact of life in some parts of the country. ” I grew up in the segregated South, nothing surprised me,” he said. “That’s not surprising at all.”

He also said he didn’t think the scandal would hurt Perry with Republicans. “He’ll actually gain respect from a lot of people that he didn’t have respect from before,” Jackson said.

NY Mag also asked Jackson about Morgan Freeman‘s recent comments about the Tea Party:

“The division of the country is not about the government having too much power. I think everything right now is geared toward getting that guy out of office, whatever that means,” he said, echoing Freeman. “It’s not politics. It is not economics. It all boils down to pretty much to race. It is a shame.”

His response is unlikely to earn the actor any new fans on the right, but his observation, that throngs of protesters in pre-Civil War garb didn’t take to the streets over massive government spending and sweeping health care legislation until a black guy was in charge, has at least superficial merit.

The buried lead in this story, though, is that Samuel L. Jackson was at an event reading books to children. I’m dying to hear that audio. “I want this motherf**kin’ cat in this motherf**kin’ hat out of my motherf**kin’ house!”

“Yes, the Grinch deserves to die, and I hope he burns in hell!“

Cain took on the oft-repeated refrain that there are racist elements of the tea party by suggesting that “most of the people that are criticizing the Tea Partiers about having a racist element, they have never been to a tea party.”

However, despite his disappointment at the language used by Freeman, Cain admitted he was not personally offended by the comments.

“Name calling is something that is going to continue in this because they don’t know how to stop this movement and this movement is making a big difference in politics.”

During his appearance, Cain also reacted to Rick Perry‘s suggestion of the ideal running mate: a fusion of Cain and Newt Gingrich. Cain said he was flattered, and pointed out that phrases he used in previous debates are now being used by the other candidates, and “imitation is the best form of flattery.”

h/t NY Daily News

The duo appear to be the latest victims of a popular vein of internet hoax that recently struck both Morgan Freeman and CNN. Either that, or they’re involved in the most macabre promotion ever for their 2002 film I Spy.


From The Daily News:

Both actors are alive and well, despite death hoaxes crafted Wednesday to make fans think otherwise.

Like the Charlie Sheen prank launched just after Christmas, a faux news organization called Global Associated News spread false reports claiming the stars had died in tragic accidents.

“Actor Owen Wilson is reported to have died shortly after a snowboard accident earlier today,” read one of the stories.

But the claim is “absolutely false,” Wilson’s rep told the Daily News.

The exact same article was written about Murphy and – guess what – he’s fine, too.

The death hoax is as old as Lazarus himself, but has become more prevalent, yet easier to debunk, with the advent of the internet, and now, Twitter. For those of you who were fished in by this latest prank, I feel for you. Just last year, I fell for a Jeff Goldblum death hoax, and was pretty broken up about it. The moral here is to appreciate the ones you love while they’re still here.

His name is C.J. Wiley, but he goes by the nickname “C. Jizzle,” and–as he says in his Twitter bio–”can you dig it, jive turkeys?”

They’re definitely not digging it at CNN.

Thursday afternoon, Wiley sent out a tweet written as if it were a re-tweet of a breaking news message from CNN: “RT @CNN: Breaking News: actor Morgan Freeman has passed away in his Burbank home.”

The message went viral, being spread across the Twitterverse along with messages of sadness for Freeman (who’s very much alive)…and even into mainstream news media. According to the New York Daily News, the bogus report–credited to CNN–was passed along by Bruce Feldman at ESPN. Other reports indicate at least one Los Angeles television station also reported the “news.”

By 6 o’clock, CNN was forced to issue its own tweet–a real one–making clear they’d been the victim of a hoax, and vowing to investigate how it happened.

Now, we can tell you: C. Jizzle was looking for a laugh. But by 6:25, he was starting to have second thoughts. “I’m a little worried, y’all,” he tweeted to his 1,569 followers. Did he think it was funny? “Earlier I did. Now, not so much.”

Tracked down in Kentucky by New York Post reporter Jeremy Olshan, Wiley issued an apology to Freeman, but–conspicuously–not to CNN, whose reputation he played with for laughs:

At this time I’d like to issue a formal apology to one of the greatest and most respected actors of our time. It was in no way my intention to spread false rumors or misinformation. What started out as an inside joke between friends somehow gained momentum.

You may have heard about the non-death of legendary actor (and voice of CNN) Morgan Freeman. Word hit the Twitterverse around 5 p.m., thanks–apparently–to a Breaking News tweet sent out–allegedly–by CNN: “Breaking News: actor Morgan Freeman has died in his Burbank home.”

As the cascade of sad re-tweets rolled across the computer screens and mobile phones, the original tweet vanished, leading to a post by @LiveNewsWire: “Morgan Freeman not dead. CNN retracts statement.”

And yet… for many, the condolences keep coming. While no Morgan Freeman tweet appears on the Twitter pages for @CNN or the breaking news account @CNNbrk, there are endless RTs that suggest a deleted CNN tweet. A glance at bookseller Borders’ Twitter page leads with a sad farewell–and it gives credit to CNN:

And now CNN has confirmed that no tweet was ever sent, or retracted. It was, says the network, a “retweet hoax.” Here’s the statement just tweeted–for real, this time–by CNN:

The story starts on Halloween when Lawson uploaded a new ad with narration by what sounded like Morgan Freeman, a man with a gorgeous and trustworthy voice who has used it to tell us the inspirational tale of Andy Dufresne’s quest for freedom, about the struggles of the beautiful emperor penguins, and how one man can you the powers of the Almighty Himself to make his girlfriend’s boobs look awesome. When people on Facebook began asking if the voice belonged to the famous actor, Lawson responded in the positive. However, God, Himself Freeman, himself quickly shut down this claim, calling Lawson and his team liars (something Lawson’s opponent, David Price, was only so happy to do as well).

However, instead of admitting they lied, Lawson’s team claimed they were lied to, saying that MEI told them it was the real Freeman. MEI then responded by forwarding out an email they had sent to Lawson’s campaign clearly stating that the narrator would merely be a soundalike meant to evoke Freeman.

Well, that’s the end of the story, right? Lawson’s just a liar, clearly, or just too dumb to read his emails all the way. Um…wait. It continues.

Another Republican campaign, that of New York’s Bob Cohen, then provided more emails in which MEI’s Ben Mathis promised them the real Morgan Freeman and claimed that the actor was a friend of his who did the ads “as a favor.”

So, who’s lying? Was the Lawson campaign lying to voters and trying to get them to think that a famous actor was totally in his corner? Or was MEI actively trying to trick politicians into paying for ads with the promise of Morgan Freeman? Either way. the whole thing sounds like a plot for a movie. Maybe it could star that great actor, the older black guy with the awesome voice. You know the one! James Earl Jones.

Check out the whole story (with the full emails) on Politico here. Watch the original Lawson ad below.

The iconic actor, who is generating Oscar buzz for his portrayal of Nelson Mandela in Invictus will be the new “voice” of the program. A celebrity as the voiceover guy – three is now officially a trend.

The Associated Press broke the story this afternoon. Freeman will replace Walter Cronkite, who had been the voice of the program since Katie Couric took over as anchor. He passed away in July.

When Diane Sawyer took over recently as anchor of ABC’s World News last month, she got a new voiceover guy as well – Mike Rowe of Dirty Jobs fame.

And Oscar-winner Michael Douglas took over as the voice of NBC Nightly News in December 2007.

Why are celebrities taking over doing the voiceovers on these network evening newscasts? Who knows. Buzz maybe? Either way, let’s vote on our favorite. First, some background:

Freeman:
• Narrator of A March of Penguins, War of the Worlds and Visa commercials, among many others.
• Starred in, arguably, the best movie of all time.

Rowe:
• Narrator of American Chopper, Deadliest Catch and Ford commercials, among many others.

Douglas:
• Narrator of 2000 Best Documentary Oscar winner One Day In September.

Who’s your favorite “voice”? Vote here, and leave your pick for who should be the next choice of voiceover guy (or girl, obviously) in the comments:

—–
» Follow Steve Krakauer on Twitter

In 1998′s Deep Impact, Morgan Freeman’s President Tom Beck (Beck? Are you kidding me?) eases the world into the idea of total annihilation, by giant comet, with the help of in-the-tank MSNBC reporter Tea Leoni. The world doesn’t quite end, but a little piece of the comet does break off and wipes out the entire eastern seaboard with a tidal wave that Elijah Wood outruns on a dirtbike.

Flash forward 11 years, and you have 2012′s Danny Glover portraying President Tom Wilson leading the free world into that good night, as solar activity disrupts the Earth’s core. The dirtbike won’t save you this time:

Granted, both characters come off well, and do everything they can to save the world. Glover’s portrayal of Wilson is probably 2012′s dramatic high point, particularly his palpable grief over his departed wife. Freeman, along with 24′s Dennis Haysbert, has sometimes been credited with helping Americans get used to the idea of a black President.

If there’s any conclusion to be drawn from this, it’s that there’s just too small a sample from which to draw any conclusions. In the vast array of fiction, where anything is possible, fictional black Presidents barely outnumber real ones.