Calling someone by the wrong name is always embarrassing, but completely mistaking him or her for someone else is an entirely new ballpark of full of shame. Kind of like how this lady on a plane thought Waka Flocka was Richard Sherman, except in this case it’s 10x worse because Mike Rowe is famous. As the host of Dirty Jobs, you’d think that he’s at least met a few famous people during his career. You don’t see Leonardo DiCaprio mixing up Idris Elba with Denzel Washington, right? I’ve always assumed that famous people have each other’s names and faces memorized so that when they go to superfluous awards ceremonies they can all give fake-nice hugs and act like they like each other.
However, this apparently isn’t the case – at least not for Mike Rowe. In a recent Facebook post, Rowe tells the story of the first time he met Metallica’s James Hetfield, and WOOF is it bad:
Large Tattooed Man: Sorry to interrupt, you’re Mike Rowe, right?
Mike Rowe: I’m him.
Large Tattooed Man: I just wanted to tell you I enjoy your shows, and really appreciate what you’re doing for the skilled trades.
Freddy: bark-bark-bark, snap-growl-snap, bark-bark-bark!!!
Mike Rowe: Freddy, knock it off. Bad dog! Sorry. You guys local?
Large Tattooed Man: I live around here, and Sophia’s from Argentina.
Freddy: bark-bark-bark, snarl-growl-snap!!
Mike Rowe: That’s nice. What part?
Sophia: Buenos Aries.
Mike: I was there a few years ago. Beautiful place.
Sophia: It is.
Mike Rowe: So what do you do around here?
Large Tattooed Man: I play in a local band.
Mike Rowe: Cool! I love local bands. What kind of music?
Large Tattooed Man: Rock and roll.
Mike Rowe: Nice. What do you call yourselves?
Large Tattooed Man: Metallica.
Freddy: bark-bark-bark, snap-growl-snap, woof.
Mike Rowe: Oh my God. Of course. You’re Lars Ulrich. Forgive me. I heard you lived around here. What a pleasure to meet you.
Large Tattooed Man: Actually, my name is James. James Hetfield.
For the record (in case any of you are die hard Mike Rowe fans and are trying to pretend that Hetfield and Ulrich look alike), this is what those two men look like side by side:
Clearly, Ulrich is not Hetfield and Hetfield is not Ulrich. We’ll forgive Mike though, as he’ll soon find out this story will be brought up during every lame talk show interviewer grasping at straws for something “quirky” and “interesting” to chat about for the rest of his life. That’s more than enough punishment for the man.
[H/T Uproxx]