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Ever wondered how to pronounce Denzel Washington’s name? The actor himself cleared up the confusion during a recent appearance on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” It turns out, we’ve all been saying it wrong.
While chatting with Kimmel about the surprising number of NFL players now sharing his name, Washington dropped the bombshell: his name isn’t Den-ZELL, but DEN-zel.
The reason? His mother, Lennis Washington.
As Washington explained, both he and his father, Denzel Sr., shared the same name. To avoid a daily roll call confusion, his mother dubbed the younger Washington “Den-ZELL.”
Kimmel, impressed by the clever solution, suggested Washington deserved compensation for all the NFL jerseys sporting his—slightly mispronounced—name. Washington, ever the good sport, agreed. He even joked about getting a cut of the sales.
This isn’t the first time Washington has addressed the pronunciation. He shared the same story back in 2013 with Graham Norton, playfully teasing the host by alternating between both pronunciations.