Spike Lee
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Spike Lee defended former President Barack Obama’s comments on undecided Black male voters in an interview.
In an interview on MSNBC, celebrated filmmaker Spike Lee defended former President Barack Obama’s comments on Black male voters when it came to Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris. Ari Melber brought up male voters from different backgrounds who’ve expressed skepticism about her being in the White House and “breaking towards Trump” when Lee interjected.
“It’s sad but true, some of my brothers have been drinking that Kool-Aid and I just hope that they get their minds straight, get their minds right, in time for this election,” Lee said to Melber. “If they’re conscious, if they’re aware, there’s nothing that this other guy can do that’s going to put us — not just Black folks — but Americans, in a better position going forward.”
Spike Lee referenced Obama’s speech earlier this month in Pittsburgh when he stated that Black male voters weren’t supporting Harris’ presidential campaign, saying he’s “got a problem with that” and inferring that sexism was at play. “Part of it makes me think that, well, you just aren’t feeling the idea of having a woman as president,” he said in his speech. Obama’s remarks garnered him a huge wave of criticism – some from allies who feel he shouldn’t come down so hard on Black men who have traditionally voted strongly for Democrats in the past.
“I gotta give credit to President Obama because he’s been going really hard on the brothers — some might think too hard, but I don’t think so,” Lee said. “We gotta wake up and don’t go for the okie doke, the flim-flam — can’t do that. We gotta support our sister to be the first woman president of the United States of America and the first sister.” The interview took place shortly after the Brooklyn, New York, native received the National Medal of Arts from President Joe Biden at the White House Monday (Oct. 21), along with 38 other noted artists and personalities.
https://twitter.com/WhiteHouse/status/1848476876353724517
Check out the entire interview above.
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A$AP Rocky is taking his talents back to the big screen. He has been confirmed to be in Spike Lee’s upcoming film High And Low.
As spotted on Hypebeast the Harlem, New York, native was recently spotted filming for a new project. Paparazzi captured photographs of Lord Flacko shooting a scene of his character Yung Felon in handcuffs being led by police into what seems to be a police station. Supporting him are crowds of his friends, family and fans holding up signs asking for proper justice to be served. He is wearing a navy blue baseball jersey, baggy fitting jeans and Timberland construction work boots. Earlier this year, it was announced that Ice Spice was also added to the cast.
High And Low is is a remake of Akira Kurosawa’s 1963 crime thriller of the same name. The movie stars Denzel Washington and marks his fifth movie with Spike Lee. According to Wikipedia, the original follows a high ranking executive who is presented the opportunity of either accumulating a massive amount of power and wealth or lending his employee money to free his child from kidnappers. High And Low was written by Spike Lee and Alan Fox. Production started back in March and is expected to be released in 2025.
In recent A$AP Rocky news, the “Fashion Killa” MC released his newest capsule collection with PUMA. You can read about it here.
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Well, that was fast; Ice Spice is going Hollywood.
Variety exclusively reports that Ice Spice is joining the cast of Spike Lee’s High and Low, an English reinterpretation of the Japanese crime thriller of the same name by Akira Kurosawa.
The original 1963 film starring Toshiro Mifune, based on the Ed McBain novel King’s Ransom, follows a businessman whose life is ruined after making a ransom payment to kidnappers.
The “Munch” rapper will make her acting debut alongside Academy Award-winning actor Denzel Washington and recently Academy Award-nominated Jeffrey Wright in the upcoming Apple Original Films and A24 project.
What her role will be in the project remains a mystery.
Per Variety:
“High and Low” will mark Ice Spice’s acting debut, and she’s already begun shooting for the project starring Denzel Washington.
The rapper skyrocketed to fame following the release of her breakthrough single, “Munch (Feelin’ U),” and subsequent collaborations with Pink Pantheress, Nicki Minaj and Taylor Swift. She was nominated for four Grammys this year, including best rap song and best new artist. Ice Spice’s first studio album, “Y2K,” is due out this year.
The film will be Lee and Washington’s fifth theatrical collaboration. The actor has also starred in Mo Better Blues, Malcolm X, He Got Game, and Inside Man.
Apple Original Films confirmed the film was in production by sharing a photo of Lee and Washington.
Social Media Reacts To The News
The reactions to the news of Ice Spice’s involvement in the film have been met with confusion and some excitement.
“This movie gonna be lit asf,” one person X, formerly Twitter, said in response to Variety’s reporting.
Another person added, “Words can’t describe how badly I want this movie to succeed.”
“This is hilarious but we need to issue a fatwa on spike lee remaking classic asian films,” another post read.
Whether you like it or not, Ice Spice is coming to a big screen near you. We trust Spike Lee, so we can’t wait to see what he cooks up with High and Low.
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MSCHF, the Brooklyn-based art collective that landed on many radars with the release of their Big Red Boot just dropped a new boot that’s sure to get people talking once more. Tapping legendary Brooklyn native Spike Lee, MSCHF is set to release its new 2X4 Boot that is most certainly a riff on a classic boot beloved by many in New York and abroad.
As spotted on Nice Kicks, it appears that the MSCHF 2X4 Boot is an elaborate return shot at VF Corp, the company that owns Timberland. According to the outlet, the 2X4 Boot is in response to VF Corp taking legal measures to halt the sale of the brand’s Wavy Baby shoe collaboration with Tyga, which took the classic Vans silhouette and added some wavy flair. Max B would’ve loved these sneakers, if you catch our drift.
More from Nice Kicks:
The latest from MSCHF is a continuation of the brand’s satirical outlook as the brand pokes fun at Timberland, owned by VF Corp, which also serves as the parent company for Vans.
Vans successfully won an appeal to prevent MSCHF from selling its “Wavy Baby” shoes and the Brooklyn-based art collective has returned to troll Vans’ parent company, VF Corp, with a knock-off boot of its subsidiary Timberland brand.
The 2X4 Boot drops on March 19 and retails for $400. We expect this one to have a nice run similar to the Big Red Boot and the backstory is one for the ages.
Check out MSCHF here.
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Photo: MSCHF
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Source: Allen Berezovsky / Getty / Spike Lee / Denzel Washington
A new movie directed by Spike Lee starring Denzel Washington, sign us up for that.
Spotted on Variety, Spike Lee and Denzel Washington are coming together for a new movie, well, sort of. The website reports Washington will star in Lee’s remake of Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa’s 1963 crime thriller High and Low.
The film will mark the first project the duo has worked on since 2006’s Inside Man.
Per Variety:
Apple Original Films and A24 are partnering on “High and Low,” which will be released theatrically by A24 before a global launch on AppleTV+.
The thriller, which starts production in March, is the English-language reinterpretation of Akira Kurosawa’s crime thriller of the same name. The 1963 film starring Toshiro Mifune was based on the Ed McBain novel “King’s Ransom,” which chronicles the ruin of a businessman following a ransom payment to kidnappers.
Developed and produced by A24, Escape Artists, and Mandalay Pictures, “High and Low” features a script written by Alan Fox and Spike Lee.
Variety reports High and Low will also reunite Washington with Todd Black (“Emancipation,” “The Equalizer” films), who will produce the film.
Lee doesn’t hide his admiration for Kurosawa’s films, telling Vulture in an interview his classic film She’s Gotta Have Kurosawa’s Rashomon inspired it.
Production on the film will reportedly begin in March.
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A few years ago, Spike Lee donned an ultra-exclusive pair of gold Air Jordan 3s custom made by the Jumpman brand for his big night at the 2019 Oscar Awards, and apparently someone chucked them to a donation bin.
Artnet is reporting that one of the holiest of sneaker grails found their way into a donation bin at an Oregon homeless charity earlier this year, via an anonymous donor, and will now be put on the auction block for a King Kong sized grip. Who could’ve done this? How did these end up getting donated? Are they fake? While the first two questions remain to be answered, the third already has been.
Per Artnet:
In a blog post, the Portland Rescue Mission explained how a volunteer found the shoes while sorting through donations which drop down through a chute. “Obviously they must be fakes, we thought, because why would the real thing end up in our donation bins?” said Erin Holcomb, the director of the program.
Holcomb explained that they took the shoes to a “high end sneaker resale shop” to get its opinion on their authenticity, and that the owner “offered to buy them from me on the spot for $10,000 or to consign them in his store for a potentially larger return.” Holcomb did further research and found that another pair had been auctioned by Sotheby’s in 2021 and sold for $47,880.
Y’all know when an authenticator offers you that kind of money, they’re 100% official tissue. Knowing that they could fetch much more for the Portland Rescue Mission, Holcomb organized with Sotheby’s auction house to have the sneakers included in their Dec. 18 auctions, which featured “some of the most sought-after collectibles and sneakers in existence.”
Not only did the sneakers sell for a whopping $50,800 (after expecting to fetch between $15,000 – $20,000), but Sotheby’s was kind enough to wave their fee so that 100% of the money could go to the Portland Rescue Mission.
You gotta love it.
While we may never know who dropped off these grails in the donation bid, in the end, it turned out to be quite the Christmas gift for an important organization.
More from Artnet:
No one knows who donated the shoes. Tinker [Hatfield] has said that he is “thrilled the shoes ended up here. It’s a happy ending to a really great project.”
Legendary filmmaker Spike Lee hasn’t put down his film cameras or retired his iconic Double Dolly shot yet, but that does not mean his career, which spans over four decades, should not be celebrated.On Tuesday, October 3, a new Spike Lee: Creative Resources exhibit at the Brooklyn Museum opened to special guests and press, celebrating the visionary who gave us films like She’s Gotta Have It, Do The Right Thing, School Daze, Malcolm X and BlacKkKlansman.Notable attendees included the man of the honor, Spike Lee, and known film collaborators Laurence Fishburne, John Leguizamo, Adam Driver, and Giancarlo Esposito.Other guests include actor Dean Winters, Hip-Hop superstar A$AP Ferg, Academy Award-winning costume designer Ruth E. Carter, Nia Long, GMA’s Robin Roberts, and more.Lee spoke about the exhibit curated by Kimberli Gant and curatorial assistant Indira A. Abiskaroon that features over 450 pieces of the de facto native New Yorker via Atlanta, Georgia personal collection, according to USA Today.Plotting the museum exhibit “was a process,” Lee says at a Tuesday preview of the exhibit, which opens to the public Saturday.“You just don’t stick something up on the wall,” says Lee, 66. “You have different spaces and you move back and forth. And, you know, you try to make sure that you’re telling the story.”Don’t think of this exhibit as some sign that Lee is nearing the end of his career. During the preview event, he proudly proclaimed that his “Legacy is not done.”So we can expect more projects with the iconic “A Spike Lee Joint” labeling on them now that the WGA strike is officially over.For more photos from the epic night, you can hit the gallery below.
1. Spike Lee: Creative Sources VIP Opening Party
Source:Getty
Spike Lee at the Spike Lee: Creative Sources VIP Opening Party at the Brooklyn Museum on October 3, 2023 in Brooklyn, New York (Photo by Nina Westervelt/Variety via Getty Images) color image,photography,arts culture and entertainment,horizontal,party – social event,usa,topics,new york city,brooklyn – new york,art museum,spike lee,brooklyn museum
2. Spike Lee: Creative Sources VIP Opening Party
Source:Getty
Giancarlo Esposito at the Spike Lee: Creative Sources VIP Opening Party at the Brooklyn Museum on October 3, 2023 in Brooklyn, New York (Photo by Nina Westervelt/Variety via Getty Images) color image,photography,arts culture and entertainment,horizontal,party – social event,usa,topics,new york city,brooklyn – new york,art museum,spike lee,giancarlo esposito,brooklyn museum
3. Spike Lee: Creative Sources VIP Opening Party
Source:Getty
Spike Lee at the Spike Lee: Creative Sources VIP Opening Party at the Brooklyn Museum on October 3, 2023 in Brooklyn, New York (Photo by Nina Westervelt/Variety via Getty Images) color image,photography,arts culture and entertainment,horizontal,party – social event,usa,topics,new york city,brooklyn – new york,art museum,spike lee,brooklyn museum
4. Spike Lee: Creative Sources VIP Opening Party
Source:Getty
A$AP Ferg at the Spike Lee: Creative Sources VIP Opening Party at the Brooklyn Museum on October 3, 2023 in Brooklyn, New York (Photo by Nina Westervelt/Variety via Getty Images) color image,photography,arts culture and entertainment,horizontal,party – social event,usa,topics,topix,new york city,brooklyn – new york,art museum,spike lee,bestpix,asap ferg,brooklyn museum
5. Spike Lee: Creative Sources VIP Opening Party
Source:Getty
Spike Lee and Darren Walker at the Spike Lee: Creative Sources VIP Opening Party at the Brooklyn Museum on October 3, 2023 in Brooklyn, New York (Photo by Nina Westervelt/Variety via Getty Images) color image,photography,arts culture and entertainment,horizontal,party – social event,usa,topics,new york city,brooklyn – new york,art museum,spike lee,brooklyn museum
6. Spike Lee: Creative Sources VIP Opening Party
Source:Getty
Spike Lee at the Spike Lee: Creative Sources VIP Opening Party at the Brooklyn Museum on October 3, 2023 in Brooklyn, New York (Photo by Nina Westervelt/Variety via Getty Images) color image,photography,arts culture and entertainment,horizontal,party – social event,usa,topics,new york city,brooklyn – new york,art museum,spike lee,brooklyn museum
7. Spike Lee: Creative Sources VIP Opening Party
Source:Getty
Spike Lee at the Spike Lee: Creative Sources VIP Opening Party at the Brooklyn Museum on October 3, 2023 in Brooklyn, New York (Photo by Nina Westervelt/Variety via Getty Images) color image,photography,arts culture and entertainment,horizontal,party – social event,usa,topics,new york city,brooklyn – new york,art museum,spike lee,brooklyn museum
8. Spike Lee: Creative Sources VIP Opening Party
Source:Getty
Atmosphere at the Spike Lee: Creative Sources VIP Opening Party at the Brooklyn Museum on October 3, 2023 in Brooklyn, New York (Photo by Nina Westervelt/Variety via Getty Images) color image,photography,arts culture and entertainment,horizontal,party – social event,usa,topics,new york city,brooklyn – new york,atmosphere,art museum,spike lee,brooklyn museum
9. Spike Lee: Creative Sources VIP Opening Party
Source:Getty
Atmosphere at the Spike Lee: Creative Sources VIP Opening Party at the Brooklyn Museum on October 3, 2023 in Brooklyn, New York (Photo by Nina Westervelt/Variety via Getty Images) color image,photography,arts culture and entertainment,horizontal,party – social event,usa,topics,new york city,brooklyn – new york,atmosphere,art museum,spike lee,brooklyn museum
10. Spike Lee: Creative Sources VIP Opening Party
Source:Getty
Atmosphere at the Spike Lee: Creative Sources VIP Opening Party at the Brooklyn Museum on October 3, 2023 in Brooklyn, New York (Photo by Nina Westervelt/Variety via Getty Images) color image,photography,arts culture and entertainment,horizontal,party – social event,usa,topics,new york city,brooklyn – new york,atmosphere,art museum,spike lee,brooklyn museum
11. Spike Lee: Creative Sources VIP Opening Party
Source:Getty
Atmosphere at the Spike Lee: Creative Sources VIP Opening Party at the Brooklyn Museum on October 3, 2023 in Brooklyn, New York (Photo by Nina Westervelt/Variety via Getty Images) color image,photography,arts culture and entertainment,horizontal,party – social event,usa,topics,new york city,brooklyn – new york,atmosphere,art museum,spike lee,brooklyn museum
12. Spike Lee: Creative Sources VIP Opening Party
Source:Getty
Guests at the Spike Lee: Creative Sources VIP Opening Party at the Brooklyn Museum on October 3, 2023 in Brooklyn, New York (Photo by Nina Westervelt/Variety via Getty Images) color image,photography,arts culture and entertainment,horizontal,party – social event,usa,topics,new york city,brooklyn – new york,guest,art museum,spike lee,brooklyn museum
13. Spike Lee: Creative Sources VIP Opening Party
Source:Getty
Atmosphere at the Spike Lee: Creative Sources VIP Opening Party at the Brooklyn Museum on October 3, 2023 in Brooklyn, New York (Photo by Nina Westervelt/Variety via Getty Images) color image,photography,arts culture and entertainment,horizontal,party – social event,usa,topics,new york city,brooklyn – new york,atmosphere,art museum,spike lee,brooklyn museum
14. Spike Lee: Creative Sources VIP Opening Party
Source:Getty
Spike Lee and Bill Bradley at the Spike Lee: Creative Sources VIP Opening Party at the Brooklyn Museum on October 3, 2023 in Brooklyn, New York (Photo by Nina Westervelt/Variety via Getty Images) color image,photography,arts culture and entertainment,horizontal,party – social event,usa,topics,new york city,brooklyn – new york,art museum,spike lee,brooklyn museum,bill bradley
15. Spike Lee: Creative Sources VIP Opening Party
Source:Getty
John Leguizamo at the Spike Lee: Creative Sources VIP Opening Party at the Brooklyn Museum on October 3, 2023 in Brooklyn, New York (Photo by Nina Westervelt/Variety via Getty Images) color image,photography,arts culture and entertainment,horizontal,party – social event,usa,topics,new york city,brooklyn – new york,art museum,spike lee,john leguizamo,brooklyn museum
16. Spike Lee: Creative Sources VIP Opening Party
Source:Getty
Spike Lee and Bill Bradley at the Spike Lee: Creative Sources VIP Opening Party at the Brooklyn Museum on October 3, 2023 in Brooklyn, New York (Photo by Nina Westervelt/Variety via Getty Images) color image,photography,arts culture and entertainment,horizontal,party – social event,usa,topics,new york city,brooklyn – new york,art museum,spike lee,brooklyn museum,bill bradley
17. Spike Lee: Creative Sources VIP Opening Party
Source:Getty
Spike Lee and Bill Bradley at the Spike Lee: Creative Sources VIP Opening Party at the Brooklyn Museum on October 3, 2023 in Brooklyn, New York (Photo by Nina Westervelt/Variety via Getty Images) color image,photography,arts culture and entertainment,horizontal,party – social event,usa,topics,new york city,brooklyn – new york,art museum,spike lee,brooklyn museum,bill bradley
18. Spike Lee: Creative Sources VIP Opening Party
Source:Getty
Spike Lee at the Spike Lee: Creative Sources VIP Opening Party at the Brooklyn Museum on October 3, 2023 in Brooklyn, New York (Photo by Nina Westervelt/Variety via Getty Images) color image,photography,arts culture and entertainment,horizontal,party – social event,usa,topics,new york city,brooklyn – new york,art museum,spike lee,brooklyn museum
19. Spike Lee: Creative Sources VIP Opening Party
Source:Getty
Laurence Fishburne at the Spike Lee: Creative Sources VIP Opening Party at the Brooklyn Museum on October 3, 2023 in Brooklyn, New York (Photo by Nina Westervelt/Variety via Getty Images) color image,photography,arts culture and entertainment,horizontal,party – social event,usa,topics,new york city,brooklyn – new york,art museum,spike lee,laurence fishburne,brooklyn museum
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Bill Lee, the father of famed director Spike Lee, and a talented Jazz musician, has died according to reports. Bill Lee worked with the likes of Harry Belafonte, Bob Dylan, and scored original music for his son on his early films.
As reported by the Associated Press, Bill Lee died on Wednesday (May 24) at his Brooklyn, N.Y. home. Spike Lee’s publicist Theo Dumont shared the news via a statement to the publication. The director also shared several images of his father on Instagram.
The elder Lee’s instrument was the bass and his work as a session player appeared on tracks from Cat Stevens, John Lee Hooker, Simon and Garfunkel, and many more. Lee also performed work on the late Aretha Franklin’s 1960 debut album, Aretha.
Lee wrote the soundtrack music for the films She’s Gotta Have It, School Daze, Do The Right Thing, and Mo’ Better Blues. The elder Lee also had a role in Do The Right Thing. After the director and his father had a falling out, Terence Blanchard served as the musical director for Lee’s films.
Bill Lee is survived by his second wife Susan Kaplan, sons Spike, Cinque, and Arnold; daughter Joie; brother A. Clifton Lee; and a pair of grandchildren.
Bill Lee was 94.
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Photo:: Patrick McMullan / Getty
Bill Lee — a well-regarded jazz musician who accompanied such artists as Bob Dylan, Simon and Garfunkel and Harry Belafonte as well as scoring four of his son Spike Lee’s early films, including the hit Do the Right Thing and two songs for Jungle Fever — has died. He was 94. Explore Explore See latest […]
Spike Lee didn’t mince words when it came to sharing his opinion about Beyoncé‘s loss at the 2023 Grammy Awards.
Speaking to The Guardian, the director explained that while he’s by no means “the male president of the Beyhive,” he does have “love and support” for the superstar. “Her album is amazing,” he continued. “I know she’s won multiple Grammys, but four times nominated for album of the year and she’s lost every time? No disrespect to those artists like Adele or Harry Styles who won – it’s not their fault – but that’s some straight-up bullsh–.”
She is the most-awarded artist in Grammy history, but Beyoncé has gone zero-for-four when it comes to album of the year nominations as a lead artist. The singer has also only ever one once in any of the Big Four categories — taking home song of the year in 2009 for “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It).”
In his interview, Lee eventually widened the scope of his remarks to reflect on Black artistry as a whole. “We all know their work is great, because art speaks for itself,” the BlacKkKlansman filmmaker said. “But then it always comes down to this tricky territory of validation. Do black artists say ‘F–k it,’ or seek white validation and chase awards?”
While Beyoncé is still without a Grammy for album of the year, her latest single “Cuff It” reached a new high mark on the Hot 100 this week by leaping to No. 6 (chart dated Feb. 18).
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