Reporter seemingly mistakes Daniel Kaluuya for Leslie Odom Jr, makes things worse with awkward apology

A member of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association extended a public apology to Oscar-winning actor Daniel Kaluuya on Tuesday after a video of her seemingly mistaking him for Leslie Odom Jr. went viral following the 93rd Academy Awards (stream the full show now on CTV).

HFPA journalist Margaret Gardiner took part in a press conference at Sunday night's Academy Awards via Zoom and she asked Judas and the Black Messiah Best Supporting Actor Oscar winner Kaluuya what it was like working with director Regina King (who did not direct Judas and the Black Messiah).

Specifically, Gardiner, who is a South African journalist covering the Oscars for The Sunday Times of South Africa, asked Kaluuya, “I’ve been following you since the beginning of your career, and I was wondering what it meant for you to be directed by Regina, what this means for you at this time with the world and the state that it’s in?”

Kaluuya responded, “Say that question again, please?”

Gardiner then changed her question to, “I was wondering what it meant for you to win with the world and the state that it’s in at the moment?”

Kaluuya said it was “amazing” to have the Oscar honour and to be “appreciated in this way.”

The awkwardness only continued when Gardiner followed up by asking the Get Out actor, "Does it mean more for the community, though?"

He gave another short answer to the South African journalist and said it means “protecting each other” and “guiding each other.”

After the clip was posted to social media, a Twitter user called out Gardiner for her original question and mixing up two Black actors nominated for an Academy Award.

"I'm sorry you assume I can't tell these two talented men apart. I messed up my question. I won't be believed. I apologize to Daniel, the assumption reflects the very world I wanted to ask about. I cannot defend this. I apologize,” she reportedly tweeted.

After facing much criticism from people on social media, Gardiner tweeted an official apology, which was not well received because she still insisted that she knew she was speaking to Kaluuya and not Odom Jr., who played Sam Cooke in Regina King’s One Night in Miami and was also nominated for an Academy Award.

"#DanielKaluuya I did not mistake you for Leslie Odom Jnr. I’m sorry if it seemed that way,” she tweeted Monday morning. “I had wanted to ask about Regina King not being nominated as a director for One Night in Miami, and your win for Judas and the Black Messiah for the community at this time.”

She continued, “#DanielKaluuya There was a sound issue so I dropped the part about Regina King and restated my question. What does it mean for the community at this time. When I listed [sic] to the audio, I do understand, but there was no confusion.”

She blamed it on the audio but we all heard that mix-up loud and clear.

Many people on Twitter responded to Gardiner’s apology, pointing out how strange her question was if she actually did mean to ask a first-time Oscar winner about a director who wasn't nominated for Best Director.

Others were furious at the journalist for mixing up the two actors and trying to play it off like no one heard her first question.

After all the backlash, Gardiner made her Twitter account private and followed up with one last tweet about her question.

"This is my last tweet on my mistake. I apologize to Daniel Kaluuya for my words. I apologize to anyone else who was offended by them."

In an interview with the Los Angeles Times on Monday, the journalist blamed it on the audio again.

"When I said it, it came out that he couldn't hear me," Gardiner told the Times.

"I had wanted to ask him about winning at this moment," Gardiner told the newspaper. "It's a zeitgeist moment of people finally recognizing the inequalities of organizations."

Kaluuya has not publicly addressed the question as of this writing.

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