Danielle Brooks slams LA Times for confusing her with another black actress

I don’t know how many people will care about this story because Danielle Brooks isn’t a huge name. She currently stars as Taystee in OITNB. Danielle does a heartbreaking job of portraying a bright yet tragic character who can’t get ahead in life no matter how hard she tries. She’s a marvelous actress. Danielle attended Monday night’s Emmys and made a beautiful appearance on the red carpet. The experience was marred by the LA times posting this photo (which has since been removed) and labeling Danielle as another black actress, Retta from Parks and Recreation.

Oh no. Retta and Danielle tweeted their annoyance.

(1: Retta) Ohhhhhh @LATimes . . . (Peep it @thedanieb) pic.twitter.com/4kC3wjQJwj

(2: Danielle)) @unfoRETTAble @latimes you would think it was a ton of us in hollywood to begin with.

(3: Danielle) Righting your wrongs is never a bad thing. Thank you NY times for the flowers, oops I mean @latimes

[From Danielle Brooks & Retta on Twitter]

That Twitter speak may have been confusing, so let’s parse. Retta alerted Danielle to the LA Times’ error. Danielle called out the paper for not bothering to figure out her name. The LA Times sent Danielle flowers, and she responded wittily by “confusing” them with the NY Times.

The brings up the same dilemma as when a careless journalist confused Samuel L. Jackson with Laurence Fishburne. Here are Sam’s immortal words: “I’m not Laurence Fishburne! We don’t all look alike! We may be black and famous, but we don’t all look alike!” Again, I ask whether or not the offending party is racist or simply lazy. If we vote “lazy,” that’s no excuse. Actors should never be misidentified by journalists. It’s rude and unprofessional.

Oh, and Danielle and Retta look absolutely nothing alike.

Photos courtesy of WENN

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