Spike Lee was honored at the Governors Awards back in November. He received a Lifetime Achievement Oscar, he made a speech at the ceremony and there was every expectation that he would attend this year’s Oscars, because lifetime achievement winners always get a moment on stage. But after the Oscar nominations were announced and #OscarsSoWhite became a thing for the second year in a row, Spike announced that he was going sit out this year’s Oscars. He did not use the word “boycott,” but yeah, he’s boycotting that mess. Spike is currently at Sundance promoting a new documentary about Michael Jackson, and of course every journalist in town has wanted to talk to him about everything that’s happened in the past two weeks. The funniest interview was probably the one Spike did with Slate. He actually made me laugh out loud, especially when he starts calling people out by name and saying they need to “go with God.” You can read the full piece here. Some highlights:
Whether he’s talked to Chris Rock about his Oscar-hosting: “No! Why should I? He’s a grown-ass man, he can do what he wants to do. As I said in other interviews, I support Chris either way. That’s why I’m not calling for a boycott, because I’m not trying to influence what people want to do. People are adults. They can make their own decisions. We’re not trying to present ourselves as leaders.”
On Charlotte Rampling’s “racist to whites” comment: “Yeah, but she’s retracted that….Her and Stacey Dash need to hang out. And they need to go with God! Both of them.”
On Julie Delpy’s comment about how it’s easier to be black than a woman: “If that’s true then let me ask you a question? How come no black women got nominated the last two years. What did she say? When did she say this?… What alternative Hollywood world does she live in? If she said it’s easier for black women to be actresses than white women?… Whoa whoa whoa! Black people don’t get bashed in the media? Where’s she from? France? Maybe she should join Charlotte and Stacey. They have a trio! And all three of them go with God! Oh man!”
Spike wants more white Hollywood people to speak up: “People spoke up back in the day a lot more than they do today. That’s not to diminish George Clooney, who: thank you. Michael Moore, thank you. Jonathan Demme, thank you. There are people that are speaking out. Mark Ruffalo said he wasn’t going to go, but now he’s going.”
If you read the whole piece, Spike is up-to-date with almost all of the #OscarsSoWhite drama, except he hadn’t heard the Julie Delpy thing. The journalist had to read Delpy’s quotes to him and Spike reacted in real time and yes, Delpy needs to go with God. Spike makes some interesting points throughout the piece, and he makes a fascinating suggestion for Hollywood: that studios institute their own “Rooney Rule,” like the NFL, so that whenever there’s an opening at a studio, they must interview qualified minority candidates.
Here are some photos of Charlotte “Go With God” Rampling at the Armani show for Paris Fashion Week yesterday. How much do you love that she was seated next to Iggy?
Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet.
With all his racial rants from past years he needs to go with them.
Yeah, no.
-TheRealPinky
no joke, he is the same league as them. Cut from the same cloth, entitled and blind to their own racism.
In what universe is Spike Lee racist? Honest question.
@jeanpierre, he is quite known for saying very ugly things about white people. That’s why they are saying he should take his own advice and stop saying those sort of things.
(Although if we get too technical with words, he is not racist as there is not such a thing as reverse racism).
Well I quickly searched and didn’t find such statements. I read things white people don’t like to hear. That doesn’t make him a racist. Let me know if I missed something 🙂
Spike Lee is not a racist. Furthermore you can’t compare a privileged upper class old white woman to an african american man of Lees age. Their experiences of racism would have been widely different. Rampling never had to deal with anything of the sort that Lee would have to deal with. Rampling has no excuse for playing the racism card she is part of the elite privileged. Her comments were nothing short of ludicrous.
@ Saks: You are right that there is no such thing as reverse racism (just Racism), but that doesn’t mean that a black person can’t be racist towards people of other races. The definition of racism is ” Racism is prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against someone of a different race based on the belief that one’s own race is superior.”
So technically speaking an individual of any race can be racist. (Not that I’m saying Spike Lee is a racist, I don’t really know him :))
But you’re right in that racist attitudes (towards minorities) are still ingrained into (white) American society.
@Saks So only whites can be racists? That’s actually a racist thought. I’m latin and I’ve seen racism against me coming from blacks and asians, and yes, I’ve also seen racism from latins to blacks/asians/whites. Unfortunately, all races have racist amongst them.
Ugh he is the worst. Like pot meet kettle. And this is the jerk who put the WRONG address of George Zimmerman on the internet so some 70 year old couple got hassled. And I’m pretty sure he did this before Zimmermans trial.
@JeanPierre, look up some of the things he has said about white basketball players.
I find only a 2004 quote about Larry Bird. Haha Spike Lee is not racist. And he’s making a point btw.
If a white peson said about blacks the things he says about whites you would call that persons racist no doubt. Oh the double standards…
…is that a photo of Iggy Azalea and Charlotte Rampling together?
…you know who else can go with God? *coughs*
But I did love that he slowly added names to the list during the course of the interview. “Stacey Dash? Yeah she can go with God. Charlotte? Yup, her too! Julie? Last bus departing for God! Delusional oblivious individuals please pull out your tickets!”
HAHAHAHAHA!
My answer for everything from here on out will be, ‘ Need to go with God’.
That now ranks higher than, ‘Bless their heart’.
Ditto. Charlotte Rampling needs to also lay off the eyeliner.
He was more than fair in his assessment.
Spike Lee is such an interesting guy–wish he got more coverage around here.
I think so as well. He really is interesting.
I did not really see you earlier this week. Sorry about the Patriots. If it is any consolation, the Broncos won’t win either. I totally believe that every member of the Panthers are machines and need to be checked for plugs to see if they are charged up every night. The NFC game was insane.
Thanks, Tiff.
Our O-line was problematic, end of. That game was so frustrating but honestly, we have had so many opportunities and enough SB wins for a lifetime. That’s not meant to brag, just to say that outside of Pats Nation, I could hear the collective groaning about another Pats V. Whoever SB match-up. It’ll still be fun to watch even though we’re not in it 🙂
Oh, and YES the Panthers are scary. I was scared of the Broncos too though, and I said as much many times. I had a bad feeling about that game…
I’m working on a little side project and will have some sway in casting. At our meeting last night, I let it be known that it is a priority for me to have a cast that is not narrow, but to have a variety of backgrounds, ages and ability level. My life is filled with so many different kinds of people, and my life is better for that. My project will be better for that as well.
Awesome. Great that you’re able to directly make a difference like that 🙂
Never gotten “hate” from him myself.
@Kitten. I knew the o-line wouldn’t hold. They were missing too many pieces all season and now, that coach is gone. And our defense guys were hurting. Lots of injuries. And Belichick chose Sunday to lose his mind. Since when does he choose to receive? And repeatedly going for it on 4th down? The College Hill neighbors in Providence can now rejoice as Amendola’s car shed comes down and I want to console Gostkowski but we’re fine. We don’t need to win every year. And Truck Day @ Fenway is February 10.
I have to say I have always admired Spike’s devotion to his beloved Knicks. He has stuck with them through the worst
I admire his restraint.
Ha ha..totally.
+10000000000000
I would love to have dinner with spike lee. I would hope that he wouldn’t judge me for being a white woman and that we could have an amazing conversation on race in america. If we can have gossip sites, why can’t we have amazing conversations with spike lee?
This is the most Southern Grandma upper level of quiet Read i’ve seen in a Minute, this is up there with the time Rick Ross quietly but decisively snatched every edge off 50cent’s hair by saying he wasn’t happy that 50s every endeavor fails and his kids hate him whereas Rick is out here prospering and getting love from his children and he super admires how 50 still shows his face held high in all these places that have revoked his passes, this is so very Black and excellent, I will use ASAP
Did you see Gabrielle Union shading Stacey Dash? If that wasn’t the most, “I don’t even have time for your self-hate boo” level of read.
that wasn’t shade, that was an actual Eclipse of the sun, Fam!
“Who is she?” Gabrielle for all the wins on that one.
Southern Grandma is perfect! I’ll add what my own grandma would have said to describe Charlotte: “Bless her heart, she looked like who shot Lizzie.” All my great aunts would have nodded in a sorrowful manner. And that’s how I learned that to look like “who shot Lizzie” was looking frightful. It was only as I began to lose my elderly family members that I discovered that no one else knew the phrase I thought was common.
I laughed too.
“Go with god”… Priceless !
I’m officially using that from now on.
Some poor assistant is being force choked as we speak. Whoever decided to sit Darth Charlotte next to Iggy is a hero. RIP, brave soul.
I know in a day late, but I just snorted at “Darth Charlotte.” She really does look like the female version of Emperor Palpatine.
My fellow photographers report that he refuses to look at White photographers on the red carpet. Flat out ignores them. Maybe he needs to take his own advice?
I love Spike Lee. His movies are legend, he is very interesting and outspoken, and he puts on the work for MJ legacy. I can’t wait to ses his off the wall documentary.
I love all of this. Go Spike!
Yes, if Spike Lee says there’s a problem – there really is a problem. He’s a very careful observer and knows all aspects of the biz.
Girl, bye. Charlotte is legend. And what is “go with God” — does he mean die?!
…yup, and saying ‘God Bless You’ after someone sneezes means you personally want God to descend from the heavens and anoint this person.
I don’t think so. I think he meant “take a look at their values” or “buzz off” or something in between. I’m stealing it.
That’s how people in my area use it. It essentially means that you are beyond the scope of mortal help and need a higher power to save you from your own bullsh*t.
Yes, it’s right up there with “Bless her heart” with a bit of side eye.
Darth Charlotte-brilliant. She was hot into her 50’s, then she just fell apart. I watched a recent British murder mystery with her (name escapes me, also starring current man-in-demand David Tennant) and the most noticeable thing was her hair-it looked so thin it was kinda creepy.
Thats Spike for you , always on the soapbox about racism when in fact he with some exception practices one of the most insidious forms of racism that is colorism
Hmmm lets see who are some the actresses that he helped get a start back in the day when they were barely known , Halle Berry, Trisha Martin, Rosie Perez, Rosaria Dawson plus always reusing Lonetta Mghee they are all half- white, light skin hispanic, brown paper bag passing (must be a coincidence!)
Not to mention the few women he has mentored behind the scenes(google them)
He and the Smiths need to have a seat someplace far from people like me who having been paying attention to them over the years and are not here for their hypocrisy
Right Sermon, wrong preacher
Maybe he is right, maybe he isn’t, but criticizing Mark Ruffalo seems unfair to me. Nominated actors aren’t there just because of them, with a performance nomination they become ambassadors for the film itself and for the story it tells. What about the hundreds of people who work really hard to make the film? Should they be ignored and dismissed? What about independent film makers who get a nomination that can make the film profitable with the attention it gets? Should they boycott the Oscars when the problem comes mainly from the industry?
Look at various film festivals across the world and you’ll see that smaller films to tell stories that aren’t really picked up by the hollywood industry. I just feel that it’s easy to bash the Oscars when the problem starts with writers and studios: the content and who pays for it to be made into a film.
I don’t know much about who Spike Lee is in real life, but loathe how he depicts women in his films, women of any color.
I don’t think he recognizes his own privilege as a hetero man and a rich one.
Are you familiar with his whole back catalogue? See his first movie. Strong black female in the lead. Do the right thing also have a much more lively female gallery than most mainstream movies. I think his early work is very good and invaluable to black cinema
@ Platchka
Thank You there may be some rare exceptions
@Piatchka – 100%
This is my problem with him too.
You don’t need to “go with God” to know what’s right or wrong. That’s annoying, but I generally agree with the other things he said.
Considering how long he’s been in the industry and how fed up he likely is at this point…honestly, he could have been much blunter in his comments. Lee’s work is hit or miss with me (and I’m sure some of that’s my white cultural experience talking), but he’s never played it safe in an industry where that’s detrimental, and I’ve always respected that about him.
People really need to stop playing at the game of Discrimination Olympics. Sexism can exist in the same world as racism, and they can either be discrete issues or overlap in the same individual. One does not reduce the impact of the other.
Why does Spike Lee chose to live in the whitest, elite, and safest neighborhood in NYC? So wealthy liberal Major De Balsio got heat for ignoring to plow in during the blizzards of 2015 as way of retribution – make the wealthy suffer a bit?
I am not going to publish Spike’s private home address, although, Spike did publish via twitter a private citizen’s address and was sued. Because the elderly lower middle class (not wealthy like Spike) who lived the address had to move due to death and arson threats.
Spike did not care to check the address and it was the wrong address. This couple lives were put at risk because of his knee jerk response and his desire for retribution. Spike settled the suit not wanting the case to go to trial because he would have lost.
Luckily, the couple was not hurt due to his reckless behavior. With this stunt he lost all moral high ground. Go with God Spike and try not to get innocent people killed in the process.
I too would like to see more enlightened white actors and actresses speaking up on the matter. We are hearing a lot from the ignorant lately, but from few others. I’m certainly not surprised by it, but it is a shame that such privileged individuals, who are much freer than most to speak their opinions, value a meaningless trophy and their position among the Hollywood elite more than speaking up on behalf of their fellow actors.
As for Ruffalo, I’m a fan and I respect his decision not to bow out of the Oscars in the end. However, it was somewhat anticlimactic to hear he wasn’t going, and then was. I don’t begrudge him for it, but I think it could have made a powerful statement had he really boycotted, especially given the overall silence of his peer nominees.
It just kills me that it was all women he called out. I’m so embarrassed for my sex AND race right now.
Spike Lee is 100% correct on all accounts. I’m so happy he FINALLY won an Oscar and it’s the same year as #OscarSoWhite – how appropriate. He’s boycotting too. Talk about not changing after getting his Oscar!