Spike Lee is happy to see that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has been quick to try to diversify its membership.
“People have to understand it’s not going to happen overnight, but I think the changes that [Academy president Cheryl Boone Isaacs] implemented with the board of governors, it’s going to have an impact,” Lee told me tonight at the Sundance Film Festival.
I caught up with the outspoken director at the Kia Supper Suite by The Church Key, where he was celebrating the premiere of his new documentary Michael Jackson’s Journey from Motown to Off the Wall (premiering on Showtime on Feb. 5.)
Lee said he and his wife Tonya have decided together that they still won’t attend this year’s Oscars.
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“The change [Isaacs] is going is good, but it’s not going to change what happened the second year in a row,” Lee said, referring to all of the acting nominees being white.
He cracked, “I want to see the Knicks play basketball.” He’s planning on being at a New York Knicks game the same night the Academy Awards are handed out.
Joking aside, Lee said, “I really think all the discussion is good because it’s been the elephant in the room. Now, let’s put everything out on the table. Let’s put it out there and discuss it.”
Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith also announced last week they refuse to attend the Oscars.
“Everybody is getting their point of view in and we’ll see who’s on the right side of history and who’s one the wrong side of history,” Lee said. “History will show that. I’m very confident where I’ll be.”
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