Fact check: That's not Samuel L. Jackson in photo playing pool with MLK Jr., actor says

Chiara Vercellone, USA TODAY
·3 min read
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The claim: Samuel L. Jackson and Martin Luther King Jr. appear in a photo together as King played pool

The list of cameos actor Samuel L. Jackson has made during his career may have just become even more impressive, according to social media users.

Some are claiming a historic image of civil rights leader the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. playing pool features a young Jackson in the background.

"Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. shooting pool in 1966," a caption above the image reads. "Samuel L. Jackson, who was a freshman at Morehouse College at the time, is in this photo."

The image shows King shooting pool as a crowd of men and women observed. The post doesn't clearly state who in the picture Jackson purportedly is, but a tall man with a hat and glasses in the upper-right corner bears a resemblance to Jackson, who has often been seen wearing a similar look.

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The photo, posted on Instagram on Jan. 23, was liked over 4,500 times within three days. The image has gained traction across Twitter and Facebook, with some versions racking up thousands of shares.

Though the image of King is real and Jackson did meet King before his death in 1968, Jackson was not in the poolroom picture, the actor said on Twitter.

The Instagram user who posted the image declined to comment when USA TODAY reached out.

Actor denies claim on Twitter

When the tweet claiming Jackson was in the background of the archival photo went viral, the actor took the debunking into its own hands.

"Okay, I met Dr King, but not at a pool hall. That's not me!!" Jackson tweeted in response.

The image was taken in 1966 by photographer Bob Fitch, who documented day-to-day civil rights movement events, according to the digital library at Stanford University, which has an exhibit dedicated to Fitch's images.

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The Instagram post also implies the photo was taken at Morehouse College, where Jackson was a freshman that year.

It's true that in 1966, Jackson started his studies at Morehouse, a historically black university located in Atlanta, he told The Hollywood Reporter in 2018. King entered the college in 1944 and graduated in 1948.

But the Instagram image was taken in Chicago, according to the picture's original description. Similar photos matching the venue and King's outfit specify it was a pool match between King and local civil rights leader Al Raby in February 1966 – months before Jackson started at Morehouse in September when the college opened to incoming freshmen.

Our rating: False

Based on our research, we rate FALSE the claim that Jackson and King appear in a photo together as King played pool. Jackson said on Twitter he is not in the picture. The image was taken in Chicago in February 1966, the same year Jackson started at Morehouse in Atlanta.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Fact check: Samuel L. Jackson, MLK Jr. are not in photo together