Spike Lee Fun Facts, Quotes and Tweets
17th October 2016
Fact: Director Spike Lee has cast Divergent actor Cleo Anthony in a leading role in a TV adaptation of his hit 1986 movie She's Gotta Have It. Actress DaWanda Wise will star in the Netflix series as a sexually-liberated artist struggling to find her place in the world as she juggles her work with her personal life, including her three lovers. Anthony will play one of her love interests, Greer Childs, a part previously made famous by John Canada Terrell in the film.
29th September 2016
Quote: “I am absolutely speechless... I thought they’d be home, watching the debate." Veteran actress Cicely Tyson, 91, was overwhelmed after she was feted by stars including Spike Lee and Samuel L. Jackson at the American Theatre Wing gala in New York on Monday (26Sep16) night, when the televised debate between presidential hopefuls Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump was broadcast.
22nd January 2016
Quote: "It goes further than the Academy Awards; it goes back to the gatekeepers... We need the Rooney Rule; some type of rule. In the NFL, if a head coaching job opens up, or a senior executive position, you cannot hire anyone 'til you interview minority candidates, and that has increased the number of minority coaches and executives in the NFL, and that should be used (in the Academy)... We can't go to that old tired, 'Well, we can't find any qualified candidates' - that's B.S. (bulls**t)." Filmmaker Spike Lee advocates the implementation of some kind of affirmative action, like the Rooney Rule in America's National Football League, to ensure minority talent is not completely overlooked for future Oscar nominations following the lack of diversity among the top categories for 2016's ceremony.
22nd October 2015
Fact: Sports-mad filmmaker Spike Lee has landed his own signature shoe with Nike. The Air Jordan Spike Forty sneakers come in blue with orange accents - the colours of Lee's beloved New York Knicks basketball team, while the lace locks bear an image of the director's face. The line will go on sale for $180 (£113) at the end of this month (Oct15).
27th August 2015
Fact: Director Spike Lee and actresses Debbie Reynolds and Gena Rowlands will be honoured at the 2015 Governors Awards in Hollywood later this year (15). Lee and Rowland will be feted with Honorary Awards, while Reynolds will receive the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award on 14 November (15). The last 10 recipients of the Jean Hersholt Award have included Paul Newman, Oprah Winfrey, Angelina Jolie and Harry Belafonte.
12th May 2015
Fact: Kanye West is set to make his debut as a big screen leading man in Spike Lee's upcoming movie musical about Chicago's infamous street gangs. Chiraq will revolve around a woman committed to ending the street violence in Kanye's native Chicago, Illinois. West will star alongside fellow Chicagoan Jennifer Hudson, Samuel L. Jackson and John Cusack.
16th January 2015
Quote: "If I saw Ava today I'd say, 'You know what? F**k 'em. You made a very good film, so feel good about that and start working on the next one... Anyone who thinks this year was gonna be like last year is retarded. There were a lot of black folks up there with 12 Years a Slave... It's in cycles of every 10 years. Once every 10 years or so I get calls from journalists about how people are finally accepting black films. Before last year, it was the year with Halle Berry, Denzel (Washington) and Sidney Poitier. It's a 10-year cycle. So I don't start doing backflips when it happens." Filmmaker Spike Lee addresses the alleged 'white-out' at the Oscars this year (15). No one of colour was nominated in any of the acting or directing categories, despite the success of Ava DuVernay's Selma.
14th July 2014
Fact: Jay Z, Spike Lee and Billy Crystal are among the sports fans honouring New York Yankees star Derek Jeter in a new Tv tribute ad. The Re2Pect commercial features fans and celebrities alike saluting the baseball great with his own iconic cap tilt. Jeter will retire as a professional baseball player at the end of the current Mlb season.
13th June 2014
Quote: "The call came out of nowhere. I got on the phone and he said, 'Spike, I admire your work. Will you do this (video) for me?' and I said, 'Yeah! Let's do it!'... This (music video) was like a peace offering, so to drop it on Mother's Day was brilliance. They didn't tell me that (they were going to release it that day)." Famed director Spike Lee on directing Eminem's music video for his track Headlights, a short film which features the rapper apologising to his estranged mother after a lengthy feud.
18th February 2014
Fact: Acclaimed filmmaker Spike Lee directed the opening credits for comedian Jimmy Fallon's new The Tonight Show series. The funnyman officially took over the long-running U.S. Tv programme from previous host Jay Leno on Monday (17Feb14) and relaunched the show in New York with scenes of famous Big Apple eateries like Katz's Deli and Red Rooster in Harlem.
28th November 2013
Quote: "I want to be part of his posse from now on." Actress Elizabeth Olsen is eager to reteam with Spike Lee on future projects after starring in the director's new thriller Oldboy, a remake of the 2003 Korean cult classic.
31st October 2013
Fact: Moviemaker Spike Lee is in talks to direct Justin Timberlake in the upcoming Neil Bogart biopic. Singer/actor Timberlake has been cast as the infamous founder of Casablanca Records in the project, titled Spinning Gold.
25th February 2013
Tweet: "Big Congrats To Ang Lee, My Classmate-NYU Grad Film Class Of 82'." Spike Lee congratulates his former classmate Ang Lee on the Oscars success of his movie Life Of Pi. The film picked up four prizes, including Lee's Best Director trophy, at the 85th annual ceremony in Los Angeles.
29th October 2012
Tweet: "People Please Be Safe From The Wrath Of Hurricane Sandy. Mother Nature Don't Play And This Isn't A Joke. Serious Business. Seek Shelter." Moviemaker Spike Lee urges fans on America's East Coast to stay safe as Hurricane Sandy moves in.
9th August 2012
Quote: "It's both of our Broadway debuts. It's amazing! But athletes sweat a lot. We have to remind him to dab." Director Spike Lee admits his Broadway collaborator Mike Tyson sweats a lot during his one-man show Undisputed Truth.
30th July 2012
Quote: "This is not some dog-and-pony show. This is legit theatre. We want people who have never been to a boxing match to come see this. Because who else in America, in the 20th century, had a life like Mike's? The peaks and valleys - you couldn't make it up." Moviemaker Spike Lee insists his Mike Tyson one-man Broadway show, Mike Tyson: Undisputed Truth, is a hot ticket. The project marks both Lee and Tyson's Broadway debut.
2nd July 2012
Fact: Bet Awards host Samuel L. Jackson showed off his rap skills with moviemaker Spike Lee at the prizegiving on Sunday (01Jul12) as the two old friends offered up their own version of Jay Z and Kanye West's hit N**gas in Paris. The two movie men tried to keep straight faces as they rapped about their movie peers in their tune Negroes in Paris, amusing West, who opened the 2012 ceremony, and then took his seat next to girlfriend Kim Kardashian.
20th January 2012
Quote: "I'd love to do a musical with Prince, Stevie Wonder or Kanye (West)... They're my dream collaborators." Director Spike Lee on his movie dreams.
7th July 2009
Fact: Spike Lee, Wesley Snipes and Michael Jackson's trainer Lou Ferrigno were among the first celebrities to arrive at the memorial to the King of Pop in Los Angeles on Tuesday morning (07Jul09), joining news woman Barbara Walters and moviemaker Tyler Perry on the black carpet outside the Staples Center.
29th June 2009
Fact: L. LONDELL MCMILLAN, the lawyer hired to represent Michael Jackson's parents over the weekend (27-28Jun09), previously advised JAY-Z, Spike Lee and Kanye West among others.
17th January 2009
Fact: After a slow start on Thursday (15Jan09), the Sundance Film Festival in Utah is shaping up to be the place to be this weekend - Mariah Carey, Spike Lee, Dominic Monaghan, John Cleese, Christie Brinkley, 50 Cent, Cuba Gooding JR, and rap mogul Russell Simmons have all been spotted around town, dressed in their finest winter wear.
7th January 2009
Quote: "(I'm) not rich rich. Rich is (Steven) Spielberg, (George) Lucas, (Bill) Gates, Jay-Z, Bruce Springsteen. I'm not complaining, but that's money! Will Smith, Oprah Winfrey - that's a ton of money. Compared to them, I'm on welfare." Director Spike Lee pleads poverty.
7th October 2008
Fact: American actor MICHAEL DEKKER - who plays a lawyer in director Spike Lee's MIRACLE AT ST. ANNA - is running unopposed for a seat in New York's State Assembly. The former city sanitation worker will represent his birthplace of Jackson Heights, Queens if elected into the post.
29th September 2008
Fact: Laz Alonso, the star of Spike Lee's new war movie MIRACLE AT ST. ANNA, played Toni Braxton's love interest in her HIT THE FREEWAY video. The one-time screen couple "made out" in the back of a Bentley.
23rd September 2008
Quote: "I heard she doesn't want to put polar bears on the endangered list; she wants to shoot them. So people got to register to vote." Moviemaker Spike Lee urges Americans not to vote for Republican vice-president hopeful Sarah Palin in the upcoming U.S. elections.
11th September 2008
Quote: "It's too early for any filmmaker to even think about an OBAMA film. (Will Smith) has the ears for it though." Spike Lee admits Will Smith would be his first choice leading man for a biopic about U.S. presidential candidate Barack Obama.
8th September 2008
Quote: "He told me that for their first date together, they went to see DO THE RIGHT THING." Filmmaker Spike Lee is proud his film helped bring potential U.S. President and First Lady BARACK and MICHELLE OBAMA together.
11th June 2008
Fact: Tuesday night's (10Jun08) basketball showdown between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Boston Celtics in Los Angeles brought the stars out - Spike Lee, Eddie Murphy, courtside regulars Dustin Hoffman and Jack Nicholson, Steven Spielberg and Sylvester Stallone were all spotted in the crowd at the Staples Center.
24th April 2008
Fact: Moviemaker and basketball fan Spike Lee trained 18 cameras on Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant during a recent game against Eva Longoria PARKER's husband Tony Parker and his Sann Antonio Spurs for an indepth new film about the hoops hero.
12th March 2008
Quote: "I got a little bit tipsy and I was trying to tell Spike Lee that I really related to his movies, and I felt that Jewish people and black people are really similar. That Jews are the black people of white people. I don't think he was really feeling it." Film funnyman Jonah Hill admits he drank too much and embarrassed himself after his presenting stint at the Academy Awards last month (Feb08).
29th January 2008
Quote: "I grew up between a Woody Allen movie and a Spike Lee movie." Rocker Lenny Kravitz describes growing up in New York City in the 1970s.
13th September 2007
Quote: "I go to Knicks games all the time, and they always put the camera on Spike Lee, Woody Allen and Matthew Modine, and never on me." Punk icon Lou Reed feels ignored at New York basketball games.
30th May 2007
Fact: Wesley Snipes has been cast to play James Brown in director Spike Lee's new biopic about the late soul man.
23rd March 2007
Fact: Moviemaker Spike Lee believes his new Upper East Side home in New York is haunted by the ghost of a former owner, burlesque star GYPSY ROSE LEE - who died in 1970.
3rd January 2007
Quote: "This is probably the biggest non-prison ever built for black people." Comedian Chris Rock jokes about pal Oprah Winfrey's new school for underprivileged girls in South Africa. Rock joined Winfrey, Spike Lee, Tina Turner, Mariah Carey and other celebrities at the launch of the $40 million (GBP20.5 million) academy on New Year's Eve (31DEC06).
11th August 2006
Quote: "I hope some people go to jail behind this film." Film-maker Spike Lee feels his hard-hitting new documentary about the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, WHEN THE LEVEES BROKE, will put politicians and government officials involved in the tragedy under the spotlight.
28th February 2006
Quote: <p>"It's so easy to dismiss a person as being crazy. But he is a serious brother. I have mad love and respect for Sean Penn." Film-maker Spike Lee admires Academy Award-winning actor Sean Penn. </p>
2nd September 2005
Quote: <p>"I didn't shave and I didn't bathe for about a month. I did that until people on the set couldn't take it any more. SAM (L JACKSON) doesn't let me forget it - to this day, he still calls me Stink Butt." Halle Berry recalls her extreme preparation for her junkie role in Spike Lee's JUNGLE FEVER. </p>
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