Spike Lee isn’t going to the Academy Awards, and the director has his reasons — but don’t call it a “boycott,” because he isn’t.
Lee has spoken out about the lack of diversity among this year’s Oscar nominees, but he told “Good Morning America” that the rest of us shouldn’t put words in his mouth.
“Here’s the thing. I have never used the word ‘boycott,’” Lee said on “GMA” Wednesday morning. “All I said was my beautiful wife Tanya, we’re not coming. That’s it, and I gave the reasons. I never used the word ‘boycott.’”
“It’s like, do you,” he continued. “I’m not going. My wife’s not going. Everyone else can do what they want to do.”
So, where will Lee be instead? We hope you’re sitting down.
“Feb. 28th, we’ll be at the world’s most famous arena, Madison Square Garden,” Lee said. “I’m going to a Knicks game.”
He later called “this whole Academy thing” a “misdirection play.” The real problems lie deep within the studios, Lee said — and he wants a quota implemented to get more minority executives in Hollywood.
The Academy Awards has been under the microscope for the past two years for not including minorities in major award categories. This year, not one person of color was nominated for Best Actor or Actress, or Best Supporting Actor or Actress.
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences President Cheryl Boone Isaacs said on Monday that she was “heartbroken and frustrated about the lack of inclusion.” She promised to review membership recruitment in the coming days and weeks.
Actress Jada Pinkett Smith has promised to join Lee in what we were all calling his “boycott” of this year’s Oscars.
Watch the video above.