President Donald Trump is not happy with BlacKkKlansman director Spike Lee‘s Oscars speech, in which Lee urged viewers and attendees to choose “love versus hate” in the 2020 election.
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!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 25, 2019
“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!” Trump tweeted on Monday morning.
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Lee, who won Best Adapted Screenplay for BlacKkKlansman, did not explicitly mention Trump in his speech. He praised “our ancestors who helped build this country” after invoking the history of slavery, then spoke about the upcoming presidential election.
“The 2020 presidential election is around the corner. Let’s all mobilize,” Lee said. “Let’s all be in the right side of history. Make the moral choice between love versus hate.”
“Let’s do the right thing,” he said, referencing his 1989 film of the same name.
At the very top of his speech, Lee was bleeped almost instantly. New York Times reporter Kyle Buchanan tweeted that Lee yelled, “Do not turn that motherf—ing clock on!” Producers apparently listened to the first-time Oscar winner, as he was given all the time he needed to finish his lengthy speech, which he read from folded pieces of notebook paper.
The speech was not something Lee had planned, although some pundits predicted he would finally win an Oscar this year. The Daily Show anchor Tevor Noah shared an Instagram photo of Lee at the Oscars, watching him scribble down his speech at the last minute.
“While walking around backstage, I noticed a small figure hunched in a corner writing something,” Noah captioned the photo. “I got closer and realized it was Spike Lee writing an acceptance speech for his Oscar nominations. I asked him if I could take this picture to remember the moment and he said yes and ‘I hope I get to use this.’”
Lee co-wrote BlacKkKlansman with Charlie Wachtel, David Rabinowitz and Kevin Willmott. The film is based on the memoir by Ron Stallworth, a black Colorado Springs detective who infiltrated a local chapter of the Ku Klux Klan with Jewish colleague Flip Zimmerman. In the film, John David Washington plays Stallworth, while Adam Driver plays Zimmerman.
The film was also nominated for five other categories, including Best Picture, which it lost to Green Book. According to several journalists who attended the event, Lee was visibly angry at Green Book‘s win, flailing his arms at the announcement and attempting to storm out of the Dolby Theatre until he was stopped at the doors. He returned to his seat when the acceptance speeches ended.
