In a recent interview with editors at Vibe magazine, Lee took aim at Tarantino’s new movie, which focuses on a freed slave, played by Jamie Foxx, who seeks revenge on an evil plantation owner.
He said, “I can’t speak on it ’cause I’m not gonna see it. All I’m going to say is that it’s disrespectful to my ancestors.”
Fuqua has now addressed the Malcom X moviemaker’s remarks, insisting Lee should have privately approached Tarantino if he had an issue with the project.
He tells The Hollywood Reporter, “That’s just not the way you do things. If you disagree with the way a colleague did something, call him up, invite him out for a coffee, talk about it. But don’t do it publicly. I don’t think Quentin Tarantino has a racist bone in his body. Besides, I’m good friends with Jamie Foxx and he wouldn’t have anything to do with a film that had anything racist to it.”
Fuqua is adamant the film’s content is an accurate portrayal of attitudes in early 19th Century America, adding, “I haven’t seen the film, so I can’t speak about it specifically, but we’re supposed to find some truth in films and if you set a film in the 1850s, you’re going to hear the word ‘n**ger,’ because that’s the way they spoke then, and you’re going to discuss slavery because that was part of the reality.
“I want my kids to hear those kinds of words in the right context, so that they’ll know that language is not OK.”
