Spike Lee: Black people are still 'being hunted down like animals'


Director Spike Lee looked back on his iconic film Do the Right Thing at the start of this year's Cannes Film Festival, saying it remains relevant years later because Black people are still "being hunted down like animals."
Lee is serving as jury president at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival, and at a press conference Tuesday, he spoke about his film Do the Right Thing after its recent 32-year anniversary. Released in 1989, the movie culminates with a Black man, Radio Raheem, being killed by police.
"You would think and hope that 30-something motherf---ing years later that Black people would have stopped being hunted down like animals," Lee said, per Deadline.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
But the director said that "when you see brother Eric Garner, when you see king George Floyd, murdered, lynched, I think of Radio Raheem," per The Hollywood Reporter. During the press conference, Lee also blasted former President Donald Trump, Russian President Vladimir Putin, and Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro as "gangsters."
"They have no morals and no scruples," he said. "And we have to speak out against gangsters like that."
Lee is making history as the first Black president of the Cannes Film Festival jury this year, Variety notes. As the event commenced, he praised Cannes, where Do the Right Thing was famously snubbed, as the "world's greatest film festival."
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Brendan worked as a culture writer at The Week from 2018 to 2023, covering the entertainment industry, including film reviews, television recaps, awards season, the box office, major movie franchises and Hollywood gossip. He has written about film and television for outlets including Bloody Disgusting, Showbiz Cheat Sheet, Heavy and The Celebrity Cafe.
-
What to know before turning to AI for financial advice
the explainer It can help you crunch the numbers — but it might also pocket your data
-
Book reviews: 'The Headache: The Science of a Most Confounding Affliction—and a Search for Relief' and 'Tonight in Jungleland: The Making of Born to Run'
Feature The search for a headache cure and revisiting Springsteen's 'Born to Run' album on its 50th anniversary
-
Keith McNally' 6 favorite books that have ambitious characters
Feature The London-born restaurateur recommends works by Leo Tolstoy, John le Carré, and more
-
Florida erases rainbow crosswalk at Pulse nightclub
Speed Read The colorful crosswalk was outside the former LGBTQ nightclub where 49 people were killed in a 2016 shooting
-
Trump says Smithsonian too focused on slavery's ills
Speed Read The president would prefer the museum to highlight 'success,' 'brightness' and 'the future'
-
Trump to host Kennedy Honors for Kiss, Stallone
Speed Read Actor Sylvester Stallone and the glam-rock band Kiss were among those named as this year's inductees
-
White House seeks to bend Smithsonian to Trump's view
Speed Read The Smithsonian Institution's 21 museums are under review to ensure their content aligns with the president's interpretation of American history
-
Charlamagne Tha God irks Trump with Epstein talk
Speed Read The radio host said the Jeffrey Epstein scandal could help 'traditional conservatives' take back the Republican Party
-
CBS cancels Colbert's 'Late Show'
Speed Read 'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert' is ending next year
-
Shakespeare not an absent spouse, study proposes
speed read A letter fragment suggests that the Shakespeares lived together all along, says scholar Matthew Steggle
-
New Mexico to investigate death of Gene Hackman, wife
speed read The Oscar-winning actor and his wife Betsy Arakawa were found dead in their home with no signs of foul play