--- title: Mandela Funeral Fake Interpreter Starred In Startup Ad description: Thamsanqa Jantjie brush with celebrity should have been fleeting. Instead he's the well-paid spokesperson for an Israeli startup. canonical: https://time.com/92896/this-startup-paid-the-fake-sign-language-interpreter-from-mandelas-funeral-a-ton-of-money-to-star-in-its-ad/ author: Laura Stampler article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-05-09T16:09:49.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:09:31.728Z og:title: This Startup Paid The Fake Sign Language Interpreter From Mandela's Funeral to Star in Its Ad og:description: Today in questionable advertising methods og:url: https://time.com/92896/this-startup-paid-the-fake-sign-language-interpreter-from-mandelas-funeral-a-ton-of-money-to-star-in-its-ad/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4a8a03abe4d338d8/69868e863617608d0490be8e/455099541.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: SAFRICA-MANDELA-MEMORIAL-DISABLED-DEAF og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: This Startup Paid The Fake Sign Language Interpreter From Mandela's Funeral to Star in Its Ad twitter:description: Today in questionable advertising methods twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4a8a03abe4d338d8/69868e863617608d0490be8e/455099541.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # This Startup Paid the Fake Sign Language Interpreter From Mandela's Funeral a Ton Of Money to Star in Its Ad by [Laura Stampler](https://time.com/author/laura-stampler/) ## Laura Stampler May 9, 2014 4:09 PM UTC  US President Barack Obama delivers a speech next to sign language interpreter Thamsanqa Jantjie US President Barack Obama delivers a speech next to sign language interpreter Thamsanqa JantjieALEXANDER JOE—AFP/Getty Images by [Laura Stampler](https://time.com/author/laura-stampler/) ## Laura Stampler May 9, 2014 4:09 PM UTC Thamsanqa Jantjie’s brush with celebrity should have been fleeting. In case the name doesn’t ring a bell, Jantjie was the [phony sign language interpreter ](http://world.time.com/2013/12/11/sign-language-interpreter-at-mandelas-memorial-used-made-up-signs/)during Nelson Mandela’s funeral who signed things like “hand me scissors” while dignitaries honored one of the last century’s greatest leaders. But no. While Jantjie was in a mental institution—he told anyone who would listen that his [ineptitude was brought on by visions of angels and a history of schizophrenia](http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/dec/12/mandela-memorial-interpreter-history-violent-behaviour)—an Israeli startup thought it would be a great idea to send a journalist into a mental ward to pitch him a job as being the spokesman for a live streaming video app. This worked for Jantjie because, [as he told Betabeat](http://betabeat.com/2014/05/mandela-funeral-interpreter-stars-in-new-app-commercial-exclusive-interview/): “I want to be a professional actor—\[being famous\] was my dream since I was a little boy.” And so, in the ad, Jantjie lies about having an “ancestral ceremony” to attend so he could bust out of the hospital for a day and star in a completely tone-deaf commercial for Livelens, an app that streams videos to your friends. He jokes about essentially turning Mandela’s funeral into a farce (“I speak sign language—not,” he signs) and got paid a lot of money to do it. Or at least enough to buy a new house for his family, Jantjie told Betabeat before clarifying that he wasn’t sorry for any of his actions at the funeral. “We needed something surprising,” Livelens’ Sefi Shaked [told the New York Daily News](http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/phony-signer-thamsanqa-jantjie-resurfaces-new-app-ad-article-1.1782413). “We wanted to choose a presenter who is the worst presenter for a live app possible; you know, the person who did the worst screw up on live TV — ever.” And Livelens’ pandering for shares is obvious. Jantjie even signs “I’m on a horse” as his head is photoshopped on an image of the “The Man Your Man Could Smell Like” riding a horse in an Old Spice ad. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/92896/this-startup-paid-the-fake-sign-language-interpreter-from-mandelas-funeral-a-ton-of-money-to-star-in-its-ad/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/92896/this-startup-paid-the-fake-sign-language-interpreter-from-mandelas-funeral-a-ton-of-money-to-star-in-its-ad/"},"headline":"This Startup Paid the Fake Sign Language Interpreter From Mandela's Funeral a Ton Of Money to Star in Its Ad","datePublished":"2014-05-09T16:09:49.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:09:31.728Z","description":"Today in questionable advertising methods","url":"https://time.com/92896/this-startup-paid-the-fake-sign-language-interpreter-from-mandelas-funeral-a-ton-of-money-to-star-in-its-ad/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Internet","startup"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4a8a03abe4d338d8/69868e863617608d0490be8e/455099541.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Laura Stampler","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/laura-stampler/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4a8a03abe4d338d8/69868e863617608d0490be8e/455099541.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"SAFRICA-MANDELA-MEMORIAL-DISABLED-DEAF","caption":"SAFRICA-MANDELA-MEMORIAL-DISABLED-DEAF","creditText":"ALEXANDER JOE—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/92896/this-startup-paid-the-fake-sign-language-interpreter-from-mandelas-funeral-a-ton-of-money-to-star-in-its-ad/","name":"This Startup Paid the Fake Sign Language Interpreter From Mandela's Funeral a Ton Of Money to Star in Its Ad"}}]}] ```