In the movie Samuel L. Jackson pleads to Nicholas Cage to NEVER call them "Amos & Andrew". He doesn't explain it in the movie, but in the history of American popular culture, no program was both as popular and controversial as the Amos 'n' Andy show. The series, which ran on radio from 1928 to 1960, is perhaps the most popular radio series of all time. Although the show was extremely popular, many African American groups, led by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), charged that the characters were racist caricatures and demeaning to the black community. Complaints about its content eventually led to the cancellation of the radio series and the removal of the TV show from syndication. Amos 'n' Andy is now most remembered for perpetuating the stereotypes of black entertainment. The Amos and Andy show also constitutes a prime example of the limited opportunities faced by black entertainers during the first half of the twentieth century. The title of this movie is a dead give away that the satirical story is a reference to this history of black entertainment.
Andrew's play "Yo! Brother, Where Art Thou" is a twist on director John Lloyd Sullivan's (Joel McCrea's) fictional movie, "O Brother, Where Art Thou" in Sullivan's Travels (1941), from which the title for the Coen Brothers movie of the same name was adapted.
Samuel L. Jackson and Nicolas Cage appeared in Kiss of Death (1995).
One of the locations used was the town of Southport, North Carolina.
In 2009, Henry Louis Gates Jr. was arrested while attempting to enter his own home. His lock was jammed and, while attempting to force the door open, his neighbors called the police, not realizing that he lived there.