Talk about being the Wrong Guy

So Guy Kewney, one of the UK’s best-known computer journalists, was booked to go on the BBC on May 8 to discuss the lawsuit between Apple Music and Apple Corporation. And he’s waiting in the green room to go on for a 10:30 AM appearance. At 10:29, he’s still waiting. And then, he realizes, the interview is airing without him – but with someone else in his place.

So who was the mystery man, who, one should add, looks absolutely nothing like Kewney (who is white, balding and wiry, while the guy interviewed on the Beeb is shorter, rounder and black?) It turns out to be Guy Goma, a Business Studies graduate originally from the Congo who had come to the BBC offices for a job interview in their IT department. Apparently, Kewney reported on his blog, “the unflappable Mr Goma assumed the whole thing was some

kind of initiation prank. His own speciality is data cleansing, and (my

source inside the Beeb tells me) was ‘a little upset that nobody asked

him about his data cleansing expertise.’“

The now-infamous video can be viewed here. Goma made a follow-up appearance on the BBC today, which the Guardian reported was “almost as painful as his original appearance.” Ouch!

And here’s yet another video of Goma on Channel 4, giving his opinion on  Hugo Chavez, crime policy and the state of the NHS. I sense a tv-meme coming on…