Smokey Robinson took a do-over at pronouncing Hanukkah for a fan on Cameo, the celebrity greeting service.
The Motown legend accidentally mispronounced the Jewish holiday when he read the Hebrew spelling Chanukah (Cha-NOOK-ah) and posted it on Twitter Sunday.
“My mom grew up on the same street as Smokey Robinson in Detroit. So for Chanukah, I wanted to reunite them via @Cameo,” shared Jeff Jacobson, who commissioned the original Cameo for his mom. “But the video takes a strange twist.”
Robinson had admitted he had “no idea what Chanookah is” in the video, so he re-recorded the message. “Hey @jeffjacobson — in the spirit of 2020, I’m gonna need a do-over! Please DM your mother’s phone number so we can try this again,” he tweeted Monday in a message to Jacobson.
Jacobson sounded very appreciative of Robinson’s efforts.
“By the way, @smokeyrobinson can pronounce it any way he damn well pleases,” Jacobson wrote. “He is a true legend whose music has been with me since birth. His kindness and generosity of spirit has already made this most-unusual 2020 Chanukah one of my family’s most memorable. Also, my mom says hi.”
He added: “But you owe her and us nothing. We love you!”
