Says Samuel L. Jackson said, "Maybe if we underpaid these modern mumble rappers and overpaid teachers there would be smarter people in the future and less s----- music."
Get PolitiFact in your inbox.
No, Samuel L. Jackson didn't say this about pay of teachers and rappers
Actor Samuel L. Jackson has had a storied career, starring in movies like Pulp Fiction and Glass. Is he now taking aim at another creative industry?
"Maybe if we underpaid these modern mumble rappers and overpaid teachers there would be smarter people in the future and less s----- music," reads what looks like a screenshot of a tweet posted to Facebook on March 21. The post makes it look like the Twitter account that tweeted the statement was Jackson’s (handle: @SamuelLJackson).
This post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.)
It’s true that Jackson is on Twitter, and @SamuelLJackson is his verified account. The profile photo on the account is also the photo that appears in the Facebook post. Recently, he tweeted about the forthcoming Avengers and posted a Capital One commercial.
But after searching Twitter, we couldn’t find the supposed tweet that was posted to Facebook. We couldn’t find any tweets mentioning music and teachers, either.
One user made it look like she was retweeting Jackson by using his handle and the letters "RT," meaning retweet, but she didn’t include a link to an original tweet. (She could have just as easily tweeted: "RT @realDonaldTrump Maybe if we underpaid these modern mumble rappers and overpaid teachers there would be smarter people in the future and less s----- music.")
Featured Fact-check
When another account asked if he really said that, she only replied: "Judging from all the tweets I saw, yes, lmao."
We didn’t see any tweets from the actor himself. And though it’s plausible that he could have tweeted and then deleted the statement, it’s less likely erasing such a statement would have escaped public scrutiny. We didn’t find any news coverage suggesting that Jackson ever shared this opinion, or that he tweeted and then deleted it. (By contrast, in 2018, Jackson came under fire for a legitimate tweet he made that some criticized as homophobic.)
Last summer, one user on the website Quora tried to solve the quotation mystery but turned up empty when he requested any sources or links.
"This was a fake post on Twitter," another user said.
Searching online for the quote and Jackson turned up plenty of posts, but none credible enough for us to endorse this Facebook claim.
In the absence of evidence, we rate this post False.
PolitiFact Rating: 
Our Sources
Facebook post, March 21, 2019
Samuel L. Jackson Twitter account, visited March 27, 2019
USA Today, "Samuel L. Jackson laughs off accusations of homophobia after Trump tweet," June 18, 2018
Quora, "When and where did Samuel L. Jackson say, ‘Maybe if we underpaid these modern mumble rappers and overpaid teachers there would be smart people in the future and less shitty music’? Any credible sources/links?" visited March 27, 2019
Browse the Truth-O-Meter
More by Ciara O'Rourke
No, Samuel L. Jackson didn't say this about pay of teachers and rappers
Support independent fact-checking.
Become a member!
In a world of wild talk and fake news, help us stand up for the facts.