Guy Goma

Last updated

Guy Goma (born 1969) is a Congolese-French business studies graduate from Brazzaville in the Republic of the Congo who was accidentally interviewed live on BBC News 24, a UK television news station, on Monday 8 May 2006. Goma was mistaken for technology expert Guy Kewney when he attended the BBC for a job interview and was brought onto a BBC special regarding the case Apple Corps v Apple Computer to provide insight on a subject he knew little about.

Contents

Goma became well known for the incident, which is noted as a memorable TV moment. [1] [2]

Interview

Goma was waiting in the main reception area of the BBC Television Centre in west London to be interviewed for a job as a data support cleanser in the corporation's IT department. At the same time, Guy Kewney, a British technology expert, was in another reception area preparing for a live television interview on the subject of Apple Computer's court case with the Beatles' record label, Apple Corps. The producer sent to fetch Kewney was told that Kewney was in the main reception area. When he asked the receptionist where Guy Kewney was, she pointed to Goma, even after he asked if she was sure this was the right person.

The producer had seen a photo of Kewney, but only had five minutes before the live interview was due to take place. He approached Goma and asked him if he was "Guy". [3] Hearing his first name, Goma answered in the affirmative. Goma was led to the News 24 studio. BBC staff put on makeup, and he was ushered to the television studio, where he was seated in front of the cameras and wired up with a microphone. Although he thought the situation was strange, he believed he was about to be interviewed for a job.

When introduced by interviewer Karen Bowerman as Internet expert Guy Kewney, Goma realised there had been a misunderstanding and was visibly shocked. Aware that he was on live television and not wishing to make a scene, Goma attempted to answer questions about the Apple Corps v Apple Computer case and its ramifications for the music industry. [1] While not an expert, Goma knew enough about downloading and cyber cafés to make credible answers. Kewney, still in the waiting area, was shocked when he saw Goma interviewed in his place, though he was not able to hear the audio.

Transcript

Karen Bowerman: Well, Guy Kewney is editor of the technology website Newswireless. Hello, good morning to you.
Goma (visibly shocked): Good morning.
KB: Were you surprised by this verdict today?
Goma: I am very surprised to see... this verdict to come on me, because I was not expecting that. When I came, they told me something else and I am coming. "You got an interview," that's all. So a big surprise anyway.
KB: A big surprise, yeah, yes.
Goma: Exactly.
KB: With regards to the cost that's involved, do you think now more people will be downloading online?
Goma: Actually, if you can go everywhere you're gonna see lot of people downloading through Internet and the website, everything they want. But I think is much better for development and...eh...to improve people what they want, and to get on the easy way, and so faster the things they looking for.
KB: This does really seem to be the way the music industry's progressing now, that people want to go onto the website and download music.
Goma: Exactly. You can go everywhere on the cyber cafe, and you can take...you can go easy. It is going to be an easy way for everyone to get something through the Internet.
KB: Guy Kewney, thanks very much indeed.

Aftermath

Twenty minutes after the television interview, Goma attended his job interview, which lasted ten minutes. [4] He was not hired. [5]

As soon as the mistake was detected, the BBC recorded an interview with Kewney for later broadcast, which was never shown. The BBC instead brought in an alternative pundit, Rupert Goodwins, for the next live slot on the topic. [6]

Soon after his appearance, there was speculation that Goma was in Britain illegally, having overstayed a tourist visa. [7] In fact, he had met the requirements to indefinitely live and work in the UK some three years earlier. [8] On 25 May 2006, celebrity publicist Kizzi Nkwocha began representing Goma. [9]

Goma and Kewney subsequently met. [10]

Later history

On 16 May 2006, Goma appeared on Channel 4 News and was jokingly questioned by the presenter—introducing him as a Venezuelan citizen, a lawyer and a doctor respectively—on the topics of Hugo Chávez, the release of foreign prisoners into Britain, and Britons seeking medical treatment abroad. On the same day, he also appeared again on BBC News 24, but this time in a planned interview to talk about his experience. [11] He later appeared in a comedy skit on The Big Fat Quiz of the Year 2006. Film producer Alison Rosenzweig stated in 2006 that she had begun developing a film based on his life, particularly this one incident, commenting "He's a fun, kind of internationally famous person that I think is an interesting source for movie material." [12] As of 2022, no such film has been produced. In 2022, Goma was interviewed on the BBC World Service's Outlook programme about his experience. [13]

In 2016, ten years after Goma's appearance, the incident was named as one of the BBC's most memorable interview bloopers, and some outlets noted that Goma's prediction that more people would be using the Internet to download music and other media they want was largely correct. [2] [14] [15]

Related Research Articles

iTunes Store Digital media store

The iTunes Store is a digital media store operated by Apple Inc. It opened on April 28, 2003, as a result of Steve Jobs' push to open a digital marketplace for music. As of April 2020, iTunes offered 60 million songs, 2.2 million apps, 25,000 TV shows, and 65,000 films. When it opened, it was the only legal digital catalog of music to offer songs from all five major record labels.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anthea Turner</span> English television presenter and media personality

Anthea Turner is an English former television presenter. She was a host of Blue Peter from 1992 until 1994, and of GMTV from 1994 until 1996.

A blooper is a short clip from a film or video production, usually a deleted scene, containing a mistake made by a member of the cast or crew. It also refers to an error made during a live radio or TV broadcast or news report, usually in terms of misspoken words or technical errors. The term blooper was popularized in the 1950s and 1960s in a series of record albums produced by Kermit Schafer entitled Pardon My Blooper, in which the definition of a blooper is thus given by the record series' narrator: "Unintended indiscretions before microphone and camera."

Streaming television is the digital distribution of television content, such as TV shows, as streaming media delivered over the Internet. Streaming television stands in contrast to dedicated terrestrial television delivered by over-the-air aerial systems, cable television, and/or satellite television systems.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lorraine Kelly</span> Scottish presenter and journalist

Lorraine Kelly, is a Scottish journalist and television presenter. She has presented various television shows for ITV, including Good Morning Britain (1988–1992), GMTV (1993–2010), This Morning, Daybreak (2012–2014), The Sun Military Awards (2016–present), STV Children's Appeal (2016–present), and her eponymous programme Lorraine (2010–present).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Webb</span> English comedian, presenter, actor and writer

Robert Patrick Webb is an English comedian, actor, writer, and television personality. He is one half of the double act Mitchell and Webb, alongside David Mitchell. Webb and Mitchell both starred in the Channel 4 sitcom Peep Show, in which Webb plays Jeremy "Jez" Usbourne. The two also starred in the sketch comedy programme That Mitchell and Webb Look, for which they then performed a stage adaption, The Two Faces of Mitchell and Webb. The duo starred in the 2007 film Magicians, and in the short-lived series Ambassadors. Webb headed the critically acclaimed sitcom The Smoking Room and was a performer in the sketch show Bruiser. Since 2017, he has starred alongside Mitchell in the Channel 4 comedy-drama Back.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fiona Phillips</span> English journalist and TV presenter

Fiona Phillips is an English journalist, broadcaster and television presenter. She is best known for her presenting roles with the ITV Breakfast programme GMTV Today.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">BBC iPlayer</span> Television and radio streaming service

BBC iPlayer is a video on demand service from the BBC. The service is available on a wide range of devices, including mobile phones and tablets, personal computers and smart televisions. iPlayer services delivered to UK-based viewers feature no commercial advertising. The terms BBC iPlayer, iPlayer, and BBC Media Player refer to various methods of viewing or listening to the same content. Viewing or recording live television broadcasts from any UK broadcaster or viewing BBC TV catch-up or BBC TV on-demand programmes in the UK without a TV licence is a criminal offence.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eamonn Holmes</span> Television presenter

Eamonn Holmes is a Northern Irish broadcaster and former journalist. Holmes co-presented GMTV for twelve years between 1993 and 2005, before presenting Sky News Sunrise for eleven years between 2005 and 2016. From 2006 until August 2021, he co-hosted This Morning with his wife Ruth Holmes on Fridays, during the school holidays only. In January 2022, Holmes joined GB News to present its breakfast programme alongside Isabel Webster. He has also presented How the Other Half Lives (2015–present) and It's Not Me, It's You (2016) for Channel 5. Holmes is an advocate of numerous charities and causes including Dogs Trust, Variety GB and Northern Ireland Kidney Patients' Association.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Underwood</span> British television presenter (born 1975)

Michael Paul Underwood is an English television presenter, best known as a children's TV presenter on CBBC and CITV. He can be seen as a fifteen-year-old in an episode of The Crystal Maze, then presented by Richard O'Brien. He presented the primetime ITV series Let Me Entertain You in 2014 and was a reporter for Real Stories with Ranvir Singh.

Guy Johan Kewney was a British journalist, regarded by some as the first UK technology journalist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Stapleton (English journalist)</span> English broadcaster and journalist

John Martin Stapleton is an English journalist and broadcaster. He is known for his work as a presenter and reporter on ITV breakfast television in addition to hosting Nationwide and Watchdog for the BBC.

Podcasts, previously known as "audioblogs", had its roots dating back to the 1980s. With the advent of broadband Internet access and portable digital audio playback devices such as the iPod, podcasting began to catch hold in late 2004. Today there are more than 115,000 cost to the producer or listener.

Between 1978 and 2006 there were a number of legal disputes between Apple Corps and the computer manufacturer Apple Computer over competing trademark rights. The High Court of Justice in England handed down a judgement on 8 May 2006 in favour of Apple Computer. The companies reached a final settlement, as revealed on 5 February 2007.

Martin Steven Lewis CBE is an English financial journalist and broadcaster. Lewis founded the website MoneySavingExpert.com. He sold the website in 2012 to the Moneysupermarket.com group for up to £87 million.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Karen Bowerman</span>

Karen Bowerman is an English journalist, television presenter, filmmaker and travel writer who has worked for Sky News, ITV, CNN International and the BBC. Formerly the Consumer Correspondent for BBC 1, and the Business and Consumer Presenter for the BBC News Channel and BBC World, she is now freelance, specialising in travel, consumer stories and personal finance.

Helen Fospero is an English television presenter and journalist, best known for her presenting roles on shows such as GMTV, Daybreak and Lorraine.

Virginia Louise Buckley is a British journalist, radio and television presenter.

<i>Daybreak</i> (2010 TV programme) Weekday breakfast television programme on ITV

Daybreak is a British breakfast television program that was broadcast on ITV from 6 September 2010 to 25 April 2014. Daybreak replaced GMTV, which aired its last weekday edition on 3 September 2010. Daybreak launched three days later.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kevin Marks</span>

Kevin Marks is on the Advisory Council of the Open Rights Group, a UK-based Digital Rights campaigning organization and is an Open Web Advocate. He is one of the founders of Microformats.

References

  1. 1 2 "The BBC's best accidental interview?". BBC News (1'46" video). 11 May 2021.
  2. 1 2 Boult, Adam (10 May 2016). "When BBC News interviewed the wrong Guy – and seven more memorable bloopers". The Daily Telegraph . Retrieved 11 March 2017.
  3. ↑ "BBC News 'wrong Guy' is revealed", BBC News, 16 May 2006.
  4. ↑ Guy Goma, interview on GMTV, 16 May 2006
  5. ↑ "'Wrong guy' loses shirt for Oxfam", BBC News, 30 May 2006.
  6. ↑ "BBC talks of iPod people as my identity is stolen" by Guy Kewney, IT Week , 15 May 2006.
  7. ↑ "BBC's instant celebrity may be deported", United Press International, 21 May 2006.
  8. ↑ "The Wrong Guy". The Official Guy Goma site. Archived from the original on 5 August 2018.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  9. ↑ "SHOWBIZ BECKONS FOR BBC INTERVIEWEE". The Voice. GV. 25 May 2006. Archived from the original on 20 June 2006.
  10. ↑ Kewney, Guy (7 July 2007). "Finally! Guy Goma and Guy Kewney manage to get into the same frame..." newswireless.net. Archived from the original on 18 October 2007.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  11. ↑ "Guy Goma recalls his experience" (RealPlayer). BBC News. 16 May 2006.
  12. ↑ "'Wrong Guy' could inspire movie". BBC News. 23 August 2006.
  13. ↑ https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w3ct353p
  14. ↑ Golby, Joel (9 May 2016). "Ten Years On: A Lesson In Thinking On Your Feet By Guy Goma – VICE". Vice . Retrieved 11 March 2017.
  15. ↑ Lewis, Simon (10 May 2016). "It's Been 10 Years Since the Wrong Guy Analyzed the Internet for the BBC". Time . Retrieved 18 December 2022.

Video

Audio

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.