Spike Lee had himself quite the eventful Sunday night. First, the veteran director won Best Adapted Screenplay at the 2019 Academy Awards for helping to write BlacKKKlansmen. Incredibly, this was Lee’s first-ever Oscars victory and it was most definitely overdue, according to most viewers. But not according to one rather powerful viewer. A few hours after Lee delivered a passionate acceptance speech that touched on American history and slavery, President Donald Trump Tweeted his disapproval of Lee’s words. Let’s take a look at Lee’s full speech before trying to deciper which parts the President took issue with, shall we? Here it is: The word today is “irony.” The date, the 24th. The month, February, which also happens to be the shortest month of the year, which also happens to be Black History month. The year, 2019. The year, 1619. History. Her story. 1619. 2019. 400 years. Four hundred years. Our ancestors were stolen from Mother Africa and bought to Jamestown, Virginia, enslaved. Our ancestors worked the land from can’t see in the morning to can’t see at night. My grandmother, [inaudible], who lived to be 100 years young, who was a Spelman College graduate even though her mother was a slave. My grandmother who saved 50 years of Social Security checks to put her first grandchild — she called me Spikie-poo — she put me through Morehouse College and N.Y.U. grad film. N.Y.U.! Before the world tonight, I give praise to our ancestors who have built this country into what it is today along with the genocide of its native people. We all connect with our ancestors. We will have love and wisdom regained, we will regain our humanity. It will be a powerful moment. The 2020 presidential election is around the corner. Let’s all mobilize. Let’s all be on the right side of history. Make the moral choice between love versus hate. Let’s do the right thing! You know I had to get that in there. Pretty well said, right? WRONG, responded Trump! Tweeted the totally secure Commander-in-Chief this morning: 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! We’ll let readers determine whether Trump has a point, but we will say this: He likely has done more for African-American than the Presidents who actually owned slaves. We’ll give him that much. Elsewhere last night, Lee made headlines for actually getting up and nearly fleeing the scene when Green Book was announced a Best Picture. Talk about a memorable Oscars moment ! According to multiple witnesses, Lee got out of his seat and walked to the back of the auditorium after Green Book won the evening’s top prize, and he later explained why. “I thought it was courtside at the Garden, and the ref made a bad call. Courtside,” the die-hard New York Knicks fan said, prior to pivoting and joking: “The world’s most famous arena, Madison Square Garden. Knicks coming back next year.” That’s debatable… View Slideshow: 2019 Oscars Red Carpet: Who Wore It Craziest? (The Answer is #19) … as are some of the so-called facts behind the Green Book script. The movie centers on Dr. Don Shirley (Oscar winner Mahershala Ali), a world-class African-American pianist who embarks on a concert tour of the Deep South in 1962 along with his driver and bodyguard, Tony Lip (Viggo Mortensen). The film was co-written by a member of Lip’s family and has come under fire for essentially white-washing history. Dr. Shirley’s brother, Maurice, has called the flick a “symphony of lies.” Moreover, Mortensen used the N-Word while doing press for Green Book and director Pete Farrelly apologized for having exposed himself years ago while on the set of his 1998 romantic comedy There’s Something About Mary.
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Spike Lee Rips Green Book, Gets Ripped by Donald Trump
