Samuel L. Jackson challenges reporter to say N-word

Jackson wins "Awkward Interview of the Year" award.

This article was updated at 12:22 a.m. with a video of Jake Hamilton interviewing “Django Unchained” actor Samuel L. Jackson.

Things got a little uncomfortable when TV reporter Jake Hamilton interviewed Samuel L. Jackson about the recently-released film “Django Unchained.” When Hamilton asked Jackson a question about the N-word, the actor made the reporter nervous by pretending not to know which N-word Hamilton wanted him to discuss.

“There has been a lot of controversy surrounding the usage of the N-word in this movie,” the reporter noted at the beginning of the interview.

“No, nobody, none? The word would be?” Jackson asked.

After refusing to say the word, Jackson told Hamilton that the interview was over unless the TV reporter can say the N-word.

Eventually, a thoroughly embarrassed Hamilton asked the actor if they could skip to a different question.

The repeated use of the N-word in Quentin Tarantino’s “Django Unchained” is turning some heads, but not everyone has problem with the fact that the N-word is said more than 100 times in the movie.

Sarah Silverman, for instance, recently told TMZ that she doesn’t have a problem with the N-word being used in the movie. “You can’t tell art what to do,” the comedian told the website.

“Doesn’t it take place like during slavery? Wouldn’t it be odd if they didn’t have that horrific word in it?” she added.

The comedian also slammed film director Spike Lee for criticizing the movie.

“[Spike’s] got a lot of mishegas with a lot of art. I think you can’t really tell art what to do.”

Lee, who has directed “Do the Right Thing” and “Get on the Bus,” recently criticized Tarantino’s new film in an interview with Vibe.

“I can’t speak on it ’cause I’m not gonna see it,” the director said. “The only thing I can say is it’s disrespectful to my ancestors, to see that film.”

Later, Lee ripped the movie on Twitter.

“American Slavery Was Not A Sergio Leone Spaghetti Western. It Was A Holocaust. My Ancestors Are Slaves. Stolen From Africa. I Will Honor Them,” Lee tweeted while engaging in a debate with people about the use of the N-word in the movie.

Those who know Lee, however, say that his candidness is one of his trademarks.

“You know Spike, he’ll let you have it whether it’s good, bad or ugly,” “Django Unchained” actor Jamie Foxx told Vibe. “And he said, ‘I’m not going to say anything bad about this film. It looks like y’all are getting it.'”

The N-word is extremely taboo in the American lexicon. Americans were reminded of this fact when it was revealed that former Republican presidential candidate and Texas Governor Rick Perry had a rock at the entrance to his family’s West Texas hunting camp that once had the word “Niggerhead” painted on it. When asked about the word during the Republican presidential primary, Governor Perry said the word on the rock is an ” offensive name that has no place in the modern world.”

Here is a full transcript of the exchange between Hamilton and Jackson, as provided by The Telegraph:

Hamilton: There’s been a lot of controversy surrounding the use of the N-Word in this movie and-

Jackson: No, nobody, none- The word would be …?

Hamilton: (sigh) Oh, I can’t say it.

Jackson: Why not?

Hamilton: I don’t like to say it.

Jackson: Have you ever said it?

Hamilton: No, sir.

Jackson: Try it.

Hamilton: I don’t like to say it.

Jackson: Try it.

Hamilton: Really? Seriously?