Samuel L Jackson has condemned Joe Rogan for his repeated use of the N-word over his podcasting career, rubbishing the controversial broadcaster's apology as being motivated by money.
The Pulp Fiction star spoke to the Times of London about Rogan following a viral compilation clip showing him using the racist slur multiple times over a 12-year-long period. Musician and podcaster India Arie popularised the video, citing it as one of the reasons she was removing her content from Spotify, which has exclusive rights to The Joe Rogan Experience podcast.
Rogan made an apology on Instagram after the clip blew up on social media, claiming his words had been taken "out of context" and that he had never used the N-word "to be racist".
The former Fear Factor host called his actions "the most regretful and shameful thing" he had ever had to address publicly.
But Jackson didn't buy it, telling the Times: "Say 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."
"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," Jackson continued.
The Oscar-nominee compared Rogan's use of the word to that of filmmaker Quentin Tarantino, who has frequently collaborated with Jackson and is known for using the N-word frequently in his scripts.
"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," he said.
"Every time someone wants an example of overuse of the N-word, they go to Quentin - it's unfair," he added.
"He's just telling the story and the characters do talk like that. When [12 Years A Slave director] Steve McQueen does it, it's art. He's an artiste. Quentin's just a popcorn filmmaker."
