Spike Lee hasn’t been at all shy about his thoughts on Quentin Tarantino’s controversial film about slavery, Django Unchained, which he called an insult to black history. Although Lee has been taken to task by several other celebs, Django’s lead actor, Jamie Foxx, recently gave his opinion on Lee’s critique.
In a recent interview with the Guardian, Foxx questioned why Lee has a problem with not only Tarantino, but several of his black peers in Hollywood.
“The question for me is: where’s Spike Lee coming from?” he said. “He didn’t like Whoopi Goldberg, he doesn’t like Tyler Perry, he doesn’t like anybody, I think he’s sort of run his course. I mean, I respect Spike, he’s a fantastic director. But he gets a little shady when he’s taking shots at his colleagues without looking at the work. To me, that’s irresponsible.”
Foxx also noted that Hollywood’s praise for white filmmakers that tell black stories and explained that, although some white entertainers and creators simply steal black stories for their own benefit, others actually do justice to the stories and culture of the black community.
“But you got to look at the individual cases,” said the actor. “When Pat Boone covered Little Richard, you think, ‘Huh?’, he’s got no affinity for it. Good Golly Miss Molly? I don’t think so. But you can’t tell me that Eminem ain’t hot ‘cos he’s white or that Elvis Presley isn’t a bad mother—–, or that Quentin Tarantino can’t do whatever he likes, ‘cos d— straight he can.”
Well, Foxx isn’t the only star to sound off on Lee and Django. Check out some other celebrity reactions below. – nicholas robinson
