Spike Lee has given up feuding with fellow stars as he feels the public spats have detracted from the important messages in his films.
The 61-year-old director, whose new movie BlacKkKlansman was released earlier this month (Aug18), has earned a reputation for fighting with other filmmakers over the years, having traded barbs with the likes of Tyler Perry, Quentin Tarantino and Clint Eastwood.
However, Spike has now decided to stop courting controversy with bold statements.
“No, no, no, I’m done,” he told British newspaper The Times when asked if he would continue being outspoken. “I’m a young chap, a young man aged 61, but before I was an even younger chap. Now when I get a hint that this stuff is going to dilute the message of my film, I know it’s not going to do me any good to comment.”
BlacKkKlansman has been criticised by fellow African-American director Boots Riley, whose first movie Sorry to Bother You recently opened. Boots called the film, which is based on the true tale of Ron Stallworth, a black police officer who, with the help of a white colleague, infiltrated the ranks of the Ku Klux Klan, a “made up story” that unrealistically glorified cops at a time when police racism is under the spotlight due to the Black Lives Matter movement.
Spike refused to directly respond to Boots’ comments but defended his choice of subject matter against the general criticism that he has made a film that portrays law enforcement in a good light.
“Look at my films: they’ve been critical of the police, but on the other hand I’m never going to say that all police are corrupt, that all police hate people of colour. I’m not going to say that. I mean, we need police,” he stated.
