In a career that has spawned a litany of classics such as Do The Right Thing, Crooklyn, Malcolm X and She’s Gotta Have It, many would find it hard to believe that Spike Lee had yet to earn a Best Director nomination. However, that all changed on Tuesday, when Lee earned a long overdue nod for his directorial efforts on BlacKkKlansman.
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Lee discussed why it took so long for him to receive recognition from the Academy for his directorial endeavors. The artist-activist narrowed it down to one simple hashtag: #OscarsSoWhite. “This would have not happened if there was not the hashtag #OscarsSoWhite,” Lee said. “What that campaign did, it made the Academy understand that they had to diversify their membership.” The Brooklyn-bred director also referenced 2017 Best Picture Oscar winner Moonlight as a reference. “Look at Moonlight — the diversity of the voting members makes a difference, so if you want to go back to 1989, that membership was not feeling Do The Right Thing, they weren’t feeling that,” he said. “If you don’t have diversity in the voting, it’s not going to be reflected in the nominations.”
Aside from a Best Director nomination for Lee, BlacKkKlansman also earned five additional nominations: Best Supporting Actor for Adam Driver, Best Adapted Screenplay for Spike Lee, David Rabinowitz, Charlie Wachtel and Kevin Willmott, Best Film Editing for Barry Alexander Brown, Best Original Score for Terrance Blanchard and Best Picture. However, the film has garnered for more attention for who was left off the list. Although he was expected to receive a Best Actor nomination, John David Washington was shockingly snubbed for his charismatic performance as Ron Stallworth, the first African-American police officer and detective in the Colorado Springs Police Department who also infiltrated the Ku Klux Klan. However, Lee offered an optimistic outlook on Washington’s career down the line. “I was pulling for my brother too, and I told him, ‘It’s all right, don’t even worry about it.’ He ain’t going nowhere,” Lee said on Washington’s snub.
The 91st Academy Awards air on February 24
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