Leslie Jones works it out in time to host the BET Awards
Before this weekend’s BET Awards, Leslie Jones has hopefully gotten a celebrity flub out of the way.
The Saturday Night Live star says that last week she met Dustin Hoffman — and called him Al Pacino.
On a conference call Wednesday, she confirmed “that happened, ( and) to be honest I didn’t know that I had called Dustin Hoffman Al Pacino” until a friend told her later.
Oops.
But Jones shouldn’t worry. She’s not the only one to confuse the actors. In 2014, Pacino told the Los Angeles
Times that he gets “Hi, Dustin” and “Hi, Robert ( De Niro)” all the time. “It’s those three actors coming out of the ’ 70s,” he said. “We’re all part of that thing, and I think sometimes that gets confusing. Less and less, I have to say. Less and less, mercifully.”
If a mistake like that happens onstage at the BET Awards ( Sunday, 8 ET/ PT), which she’s hosting, Jones says she “would make a joke right there.” But, fortunately, “I will not be announcing any of the winners, so let’s hope I will not be in a situation” like Faye Dunaway’s reading the wrong best- picture winner at the Oscars, or Steve Harvey naming the wrong Miss Universe.
Though Jones concedes she’s nervous, she’s prepared for the show, trying out jokes in clubs and keeping fit. However, “no one likes to work out,” she says. “Like and workout shouldn’t be in the same sentence.”
Jones promises a fun, roast- free ( and hopefully mistake- free) night that likely will honor Beyoncé, who has seven nominations, Bruno Mars with five and Chance the Rapper with three. Helping to entertain the crowd is a roster of performers including Mars, DJ Khaled, Chris Brown, A$ AP Rocky, Future and Mary J. Blige. New Edition will be getting a tribute, though Jones said she couldn’t share which artists will be honoring the ’ 80s R& B group.
“Make sure to let everybody know, I wanna promote joy for the show. I want everybody to come to this show to have a good time,” Jones says.