A Decade Later, TV Tech Mixup Still Amuses

It’s now ten years since a confused man blagged his way through a live TV interview after being mistaken for a technology expert.

In May 2006, the late Guy Kewney, a long-time tech journalist in the UK was scheduled to be interviewed on a court case pitting Apple against Apple Music. A BBC assistant went to reception and asked Guy to come along for the interview, which he duly did.

Unfortunately the man who answered the call was Guy Goma, who had come not for a TV interview but a job interview (for a role as data support cleanser.) Goma was a little confused at being brought in front of a camera but didn’t appreciate what was happening until the interviewer introduced him as Kewney, leading to a classic facial expression of sheer panic.

Rather than cause a scene, Goma went ahead and answered the questions as best he could, giving vague statements which, to be fair, have not proven incorrect, including: “Actually, if you can go everywhere you’re gonna see a lot of people downloading through Internet and the website, everything they want. But I think it is much better for the development and…eh…to inform people what they want, and to get on the easy way, and so faster if they are looking for.”

Goma went on to have a brief spell of media fame in the wake of the mixup, with some talk of making a movie of his life, but he faded from public view within a few months. Kewney was initially outraged, believing the video made him look foolish and unknowledgeable to viewers unaware of the mixup, though he and Goma later had a cordial meeting.