Oscar-winning director Spike Lee has responded to U.S. President Donald Trump’s claim that his Oscars acceptance speech for Best Adapted Screenplay was a “racist hit” aimed at Trump.
Following his acceptance speech for BlacKkKlansman, Trump tweeted about Lee.
“Be nice if Spike Lee could read his notes, or better yet not have to use notes at all, when doing his racist hit on your President, who has done more for African Americans (Criminal Justice Reform, Lowest Unemployment numbers in History, Tax Cuts, etc.) than almost any other Pres!”
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“Well, it’s okee-doke, you know,” he told Entertainment Weekly on Monday. “They change the narrative.”
“They did the same thing with the African-American players who were kneeling, trying to make it into an anti-American thing, an anti-patriotic thing, and an anti-military thing,” he added. “But no one’s going for that.”
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During his acceptance speech, Lee did not mention Trump’s name at all. He told voters to “be on the right side of history.”
The She’s Gotta Have It creator, whose film includes footage of Trump following the violent white supremacist protests in Charlottesville, Va., urged mobilization for the upcoming election.
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He also waded into politics, citing the 2020 presidential election and calling on people to mobilize and “be on the right side of history. Make the moral choice between love versus hate.”
“Let’s be on the right side of history. Make the moral choice between love and hate,” said Lee, who was given an honorary Oscar in 2015. “Let’s do the right thing! You knew I had to get that in there.”
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Instead of dwelling on Trump’s words, Lee took to Instagram to announce that he’s looking forward to working on his next movie.
He told fans he is heading to Thailand to shoot Da 5 Bloods, starring Chadwick Boseman.
“BlacKkKlansman, that’s over,” he says in a video posted to Instagram. “Like Jay Z says, onto the next.”
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