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Spike Lee’s controversial quotes: A brief history

Writer-director Spike Lee is courting controversy once again after a Q&A he conducted for his new film, "Red Hook Summer," at the Sundance Film Festival. Taking questions from the crowd, Lee opened up on the major Hollywood studios, saying that they "know nothing about black people." Though the comments are getting a lot of attention, especially after George Lucas' comments last week about how the studios declined to produce his all-black World War II drama "Red Tails" were contrasted with the surprisingly strong box office numbers the film turned in, this kind of statement is nothing new for Lee. He's been opining on Hollywood and other filmmakers for nearly as long as he's been making movies. For those who have lost track, here are some of the highlights of over two decades of Spike Lee.

Writer-director Spike Lee is courting controversy once again after a Q&A he conducted for his new film, “Red Hook Summer,” at the Sundance Film Festival. Taking questions from the crowd, Lee opened up on the major Hollywood studios, saying that they “know nothing about black people.” Though the comments are getting a lot of attention, especially after George Lucas’ comments last week about how the studios declined to produce his all-black World War II drama “Red Tails” were contrasted with the surprisingly strong box office numbers the film turned in, this kind of statement is nothing new for Lee. He’s been opining on Hollywood and other filmmakers for nearly as long as he’s been making movies.

For those who have lost track, here are some of the highlights of over two decades of Spike Lee.  (Jennifer S. Altman / For The Times)

On Clint Eastwood

Lee was talking to reporters at the Cannes Film Festival in 2008, promoting his World War II drama “The Miracle at St. Anna,” when the subject of Clint Eastwood‘s own World War II film titled “Flags of Our Fathers” and its lack of black soldiers came up. Lee stated, “If you reporters had any ... you’d ask him why. There’s no way I know why he did that -- that was his vision, not mine. But I know it was pointed out to him and that he could have changed it. It’s not like he didn’t know.”

Eastwood later rejected the criticisms about his film and responded to Lee, “A guy like him should shut his face.”

Lee fired back, “First of all, the man is not my father and we’re not on a plantation either.”

The two finally made peace through mutual friend Steven Spielberg before any punches were thrown.   (Damon Winter / Los Angeles Times)

On Charlton Heston

Lee suggested to reporters in 1999 that actor and NRA spokesperson Charlton Heston should be shot “with a .44 Bulldog” (the same gun the Son of Sam killer used).

Heston wrote in a letter to The Times, “In response, I feel some irony. In ‘63, when I was marching for the freedom of black Americans, I was threatened by white men. In ‘99, active now for the freedom of all Americans, I’m threatened by a black man.”   (Ken Hively / Los Angeles Times)

On George Lucas

Many people saw racial overtones to Lucas’ inclusion of the cartoonish character Jar Jar Binks in “Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace,” and Lee was not one to dodge the controversy when asked about it in USA Today during the summer of 1999. After calling it the science fiction Stepin Fetchit, Lee said, “I just think George Lucas is out of touch. I think he’s out of touch with people in general. I guess that happens when you have more money than God.”

Lee later showed his support for Lucas’ Tuskeegee airmen movie, “Red Tails” by attending the premiere of the film. Lucas joked that Lee could direct the sequel.   (Mike Coppola / Getty Images)

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On Quentin Tarantino

Lee took issue with Tarantino’s excessive use of the N-word in his films, most notably “Jackie Brown” in 1997. Speaking to Variety that year, Lee said, “I’m not against the word, (though I am) and I use it, but not excessively. And some people speak that way. But, Quentin is infatuated with that word. What does he want to be made -- an honorary black man?”  (Claudio Onorati / EPA)

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