Did Guy Goma get the job?

Guy Goma, a Congolese-French graduate in business studies from Brazzaville in the Republic of the Congo, was unintentionally interviewed live on BBC News 24 on Monday, May 8, 2006, a UK television news channel. When Goma went to the BBC for a job interview, Guy Goma was mistaken for technology expert Guy Kewney and was brought onto a BBC special about the case Apple Corps v Apple Computer to provide insight on a subject Guy Goma knew little about. Goma rose to prominence as a result of the incident, which is remembered as a memorable television moment.

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 about Apple Computer’s court case with the Beatles’ record label, Apple Corps. Kewney was said to be in the main reception area, according to the producer who was sent to retrieve him. Even after Guy Goma questioned whether she was certain this was the right person, the receptionist pointed to Goma when he asked where Guy Kewney was.

Did Guy Goma get the job?

Goma went to his job interview, which lasted ten minutes, twenty minutes after the television interview. Goma was not hired.

As soon as the error was discovered, the BBC taped an interview with Kewney for later broadcast, which was never shown. Instead, the BBC brought in an alternate pundit, Rupert Goodwins, for the next live slot on the topic.