His public tantrum was unseemly, ungracious, and embarrassing — but it may pay off.
New York Knicks fans will never forget the 1994 playoffs, when Spike Lee, an ostensibly grown 37-year-old man who had leveraged his celebrity into scoring a courtside seat at Madison Square Garden, decided to make himself the center of attention late in the game. Lee, only a few feet from the action, got up and moved around and shouted at players and generally made a complete ass of himself. Lee had inexplicably made it his personal mission to taunt and distract the rival Indiana Pacers’ star shooting guard Reggie Miller. Then things got even worse: Miller responded by turning up the heat on his game from “smoking” to “molten.” Miller scored 25 points in the fourth quarter as the Pacers came from behind to win the game. The Daily News ran a photo of Lee with the caption, “Thanks a Lot, Spike.” When the series moved to Indianapolis, Lee made his typical horrible move of mixing evil with entertainment, telling reporters (falsely) that Indiana was the birthplace of the KKK and that he would be staying at “the governor’s mansion,” in “the slaves’ quarters.”
A man who acts like a churl in his late 30s is liable to remain one forever. You may correct me if I’m wrong, but I think Lee made Oscar history Sunday night. As far as I know, he was the first Academy Award loser ever to throw a public tantrum right there in the auditorium.
ABC’s cameras didn’t catch it, but showbiz trades reported what happened in the audience after Best Picture was predictably awarded to Green Book instead of Lee’s film, BlacKkKlansman. Deadline noted that a “furious” Lee left his seat, stalked back toward the rear of the theater, then turned back and appeared to get into an intense conversation with Get Out writer-director Jordan Peele, who was behind him. Then he paced in the aisle and headed for the back of the theater again. When he got back to his seat he pointedly turned his back to the stage as Green Book producer-director Peter Farrelly gave an acceptance speech.
Variety added that as Green Book’s win was announced, reporters saw Lee “wave his arms in anger” before “storming out of the theater. However, before he could leave, he was stopped at the doors and was forced to return to his seat once the speeches had stopped.” Lee then insulted the winning film backstage, adding another chapter to his 30-year series of complaints that his 1989 film Do the Right Thing didn’t win at the Oscars, in the year in which Driving Miss Daisy took home the top honor. “I’m snakebit. Every time someone’s driving somebody, I lose,” he said Sunday. “I thought I was courtside at the Garden and the refs made a bad call.”
This was a ludicrous thing to say since BlacKkKlansman, far from getting robbed, was an Oscars longshot rated at 25–1 by London bookmakers before the ceremony. The favorites were obviously Green Book and Roma, which wound up winning six Oscars between them. Lee shouldn’t have been at all surprised that his film didn’t win Best Picture. Moreover, Lee has nothing to moan about, since he did win an Oscar Sunday night: for Best Adapted Screenplay. This seemed preordained; Samuel L. Jackson was evidently selected to present the award because the two men are friends and Jackson’s first major role was in Lee’s Jungle Fever.
Who throws a hissy fit because he wins only one Oscar? I and many others share Lee’s dim view of Green Book, but his outburst was childish, ungentlemanly, unacceptable, and completely ridiculous. No doubt many an Oscar non-winner has tossed an ashtray over the mantelpiece back home after the show. No doubt many have lashed out at managers or assistants on the phone. But to carry on a public meltdown in the middle of the winner’s acceptance speech is outlandish. Lee should apologize, but if he doesn’t, he should never be invited back to the ceremony again, much less be nominated again.
Will that happen? Of course not. Such is the masochism of Hollywood progressives — thank you, Sir, may I have another! — that if anything, Lee’s crybaby act pretty much guarantees he’ll win an Oscar if he ever again makes a film that is a hair better than mediocre. Given that most of Lee’s films are so terrible (Bamboozled, Red Hook Summer, Oldboy, Miracle at St. Anna) that they disappear without a trace, it may be difficult for the Academy to pretend Lee deserves to be honored. But right now all those Beverly Hills bolshies are thinking: Go, Spike, go! Stick it to the Man! Now, Carlos, bring the Mercedes around.