Hey Wall Street Journal, Kal Penn & Dev Patel Aren’t the Same Guy

Wall Street Journal movie critic faces flak after he mistakes Dev Patel for Kal Penn.

Morgenstern referred to Dev Patel’s performance as the richest one since The Namesake – a movie which had another actor of Indian origin, Kal Penn. (Photo: The Quint)

What qualifies as sufficient justification for an apology?

The context, right? Well, what if we told you we mistook you for someone else, because, well, you both look the same and interchangeability is not offensive to your race, right?

Hold on.

We apologise. We understand that was a ‘dumb error’. That was an impulsive comment. We apologise again. We stand against all ‘prejudice and stupidity’.

So, what is the verdict now? Have you forgiven us for our ‘dumb error’?

If yes, ‘Wall Street Journal’ movie critic Joe Morgenstern’s the man of the hour. In a review for the movie Lion, Morgenstern, while waxing eloquent about actor Dev Patel, referred to his performance as the richest one since Namesake – a movie which had another actor of Indian origin, Kal Penn.

Now you can imagine the backlash from a ‘don’t-forgive-don’t-forget’ Twitter. Have a look at some of the tweets!

Screenshot of a tweet lashing out at Morgenstern. (Photo: Twitter/ Roopa Banerjee)

Following all of this, Morgenstern issued an apology, saying he understands how hurtful his comment was.