Spike Lee Is Praying the Knicks Don’t Visit the Trump White House

It’s a good time to be Spike Lee. The illustrious New York filmmaker behind cinema classics like “Do the Right Thing,” “Malcolm X” and “25th Hour” is still basking in the glow of his beloved Knicks’ fairy-tale run to their first NBA title in 53 years — a result that he boldly predicted in a New York Times op-ed. He’s also hosting Playback: The Brooklyn Watch Party, a new two-day festival at the Brooklyn Academy of Music featuring film screenings, pop-up activations and a free street fair. The fest will kick off on Nov. 6 with a special screening of “Crooklyn,” Lee’s vividly rendered autobiographical portrait of the family’s early years in Fort Greene, Brooklyn, followed by a talkback with Lee, his sisters Joie and Cinqué (who penned the screenplay), and stars Alfre Woodard and Zelda Harris. Lee’s production company, 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks, is still based in Fort Greene, a stone’s throw from BAM. And its interior is a sight to behold, featuring enough Knicks and NBA memorabilia to fill a small museum, a studio space, and a plethora of vintage movie posters, including several of Lee’s favorite film, “On the Waterfront.” The 69-year-old emerges from a back room, sits beside me, and we engage in a lively discussion about everything from the Knicks and Hollywood to that unfortunate incident at Yankee Stadium. The Knicks finally won their first championship in my lifetime. I’ve been wanting to talk to you about this. I’ve got three! I’m sorry it took so long. How old are you? I’m 41. There were some dark years. Whew! Did you actually call Michael Jordan after the Knicks won it all? That was just a commercial! He wasn’t on the other end! That’s filmmaking, baby. They probably couldn’t get him on the phone because he was on a boat! Or in Monte Carlo throwing some dice. We’ll get back to the Knicks, but congratulations on the inaugural Playback festival at Brooklyn Academy of Music. I got asked! I know [Clara Wu Tsai], the co-owner of the Brooklyn Nets, and she asked me. I’ve always supported BAM since it’s right down the block. The thing that I like about it is it’s not one person selecting the films, so every one is different. And you’re hosting a special screening of “Crooklyn” followed by a talkback with your sisters Joie and Cinqué, who wrote the screenplay; stars Alfre Woodard and Zelda Harris; and yourself. I didn’t even know my sisters, Joie and Cinqué, wrote it! They just showed up one day with this script they’d written called “Hot Peas and Butter” — named for an old game that we used to play in the streets where someone would have to be “it,” you’d hide a belt, say, “Hot peas and butter, come get your supper!” and then everyone would have to try to find the belt because if you found the belt, you could whip everybody lookin’ for it. The kids of my generation didn’t have any video games and shit, so we made up games to play on the street. Zelda Harris, Alfre Woodard, Delroy Lindo and the cast of “Crooklyn.” ©Paramount/Courtesy Everett Collection Now kids spend all their time on their phones. I don’t want to sound like an old fuddy-duddy but I’m an old fuddy-duddy, but kids used to get together and play on the streets, adults had nothing to do with it, and during summertime you’d have to be back before the lights come on. We played Bootys Up, stickball, stoop ball, you name it. We called it Butts Up. It seems healthier to be outside playing games as kids like we used to versus inside alone on your phone. We could be here for eight years talking about technology, and I’m not going to say it’s all bad, but there is something lost. During summertime, you’re too young to have a job so you’re just running down the streets and, like the Lee family, if you had relatives down South, your ass would be shipped down South! But with the street games, all that stuff is in the opening credit sequence to “Crooklyn,” and it was my siblings’ idea to do a film about Brooklyn during the ‘70s that’s autobiographical about our family growing up. The great Alfre Woodard played our mother, and the great Delroy Lindo played our father, they brought it to me and I did my thing. So many strangers have come up to me and said their favorite film of mine is “Crooklyn” — not “She’s Gotta Have It,” not “Do the Right Thing,” not “Malcolm X” — and it’s not even close. Total strangers! Everybody comes up to me and asks, “Who killed Queenie?!” It’s your “Where’s Wallace?” Ha! And I never answer. How do you feel about gentrification in Brooklyn? I just saw that they opened a Blank Street Coffee around the corner from your offices. I don’t trust that coffee shop. Reeks of private equity. I don’t either. And I noticed that, too. Look, here’s the thing: I was born in Atlanta, Georgia. My father, a great musician, graduated from Morehouse and Dr. Martin Luther King was a senior when he was a freshman, and Martin Luther King III and I were Morehouse classmates. My late older brother Chris was born in Chicago, and the rest of my siblings were born in Brooklyn. We lived in Crown Heights first at 1480 Union St. Then we moved to Cobble Hill, and we were the first Black family to move to Cobble Hill, which back then wasn’t gentrified and was all Italian Americans. The first week or so we got called “n******” and stuff like that, but then they saw other “mulignans” moving in behind us and we were good. I know it may sound crazy, but it’s only recently that I thought how growing up in an Italian-American neighborhood laid the seeds for “Do the Right Thing” and “Jungle Fever.” And “Summer of Sam.” Three Spike Lee joints! Even though I didn’t write “Summer of Sam.” Then we moved to Fort Greene. And Fort Greene’s been gentrified! To get a good sense of Fort Greene, go to Fort Greene Park in the morning — it’s all dogs and baby carriages. The thing is, there’s a large part of the African American community that couldn’t afford to live here anymore and moved down South to places like North Carolina or Atlanta, Georgia. When the Knicks are in Atlanta, it’s a home game! And a lot of Puerto Ricans and Dominicans had to move back to Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic. I don’t think it’s a crazy statement to say that a lot of the flavor is missing because it’s not affordable. There was a time when New York was affordable, so young artists would come here, but I don’t know how young artists can afford to live in New York! Back in the day, the Madonnas could come and stay in the Lower East Side. Young artists still want to come here, but now they can’t afford it. What’s the answer? More affordable housing, like what Mayor Mamdani is trying to do in Sunnyside, Queens? I hope he’s successful because it’s a great city. I like him. I voted for him. Me and my little sister were at Game 4 of the NBA Finals. I don’t think I’ll ever experience a game like that again. What was that magical championship run like for you? You’ve been there in the trenches for quite some time. I’ve been a season ticket holder since Patrick Ewing’s rookie year. Beyoncé and Spike Lee at the 2004 NBA Playoffs between the New Jersey Nets and the New York Knicks. Getty Images When we rigged the NBA Draft to get Patrick Ewing. I’m kidding. I’ve heard that, though! That the envelope was rigged! But it was destiny, or whatever you want to call it, and New York City was on fire. And the parade! And the joy. I got emotional when the Knicks won. Me too. The tears weren’t flowing, but I was teary-eyed! I wanted to ask you about the current Knicks’ imbroglio. Not going to the White House. Yeah. Apparently, the team owner, James Dolan, who we know is a Trump pal, is trying to force them to visit the White House but the team doesn’t want to. He can’t force them! It’s been years since the last NBA team has gone. They’re not going. I hope they don’t go! I hope they don’t go. Trump also messed up Game 3 of the Finals for the Knicks. They’d won 13 playoff games in a row until Dolan invited Trump to the game and ruined their mojo. That was not just an accident! So, how do you, as a Knicks superfan, reconcile having James Dolan as the owner of the Knicks? So, not to cut you off, but here’s the thing: There were a lot of Yankees fans that didn’t like George Steinbrenner and his politics. But Steinbrenner wasn’t bringing the president to crucial Knicks games, taking shots at the mayor by questioning his fandom, etc. He wasn’t. But he was a Republican. Funny story: During the 1996 World Series, the Yankees lost the first two games to the Braves. Andruw Jones killed us. I remember. I’d bought this New Era Yankees jacket and it had a red stripe, so I wanted a red Yankee hat. I called up New Era and they said, “We don’t do that.” So, I got Steinbrenner on the phone. I told him what I wanted, he called New Era, and they made me a red Yankee hat. So, you invented the red Yankee hat. That’s wild. It’s not only red. Before that, teams only had hats in their team colors. The red Yankee hat started everything! There may have been no Limp Bizkit without you. Limp Bizkit!?! That’s some… He didn’t have it before me! New Era made it for me! I don’t even remember how I got Steinbrenner on the phone, but he got New Era to make the red Yankee hat, and we won the World Series. Spike Lee at the 2026 NBA All-Star Weekend at Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California. Getty Images What projects do you have cooking? Nothing I can talk about! How did Ben Stiller get to make the documentary on the Knicks’ championship run and not you? It was Dolan. Dolan gave it to him. Look, it’s his team, he can do what he wants to do. Coulda woulda, but it’s his team. He also wants his team to go to the White House, too. Did you see Ben Affleck’s “Animals?” It’s another remake of Kurosawa’s “High and Low” that came out a year after your “Highest 2 Lowest.” No. I don’t know nothing about it. I didn’t even know that happened. This year marks 20 years of “Inside Man,” which I love. Why was there never a sequel? Universal wanted me and Denzel to do a sequel and we said, “Hell no.” So, they did a bootleg, bogus version in South Africa. Why didn’t you guys want to do a sequel? We just didn’t! I haven’t done a sequel yet. I’m not saying I never would, but we felt we did what we had to do. And they weren’t giving us an offer we couldn’t refuse, either! Especially Denzel. Maybe they should have just waited and paid us what we were worth. But we had a lot of fun doing that, and those scenes between Jodie Foster and Denzel are great. Couldn’t agree more. The big news in Hollywood right now is the merger between Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. How do you feel about a pro-Trump family running half of Hollywood? You know… It might be one less place I’m going to be making films! I’m not hoping for that, but it could be. I don’t think it’s a crazy statement based on my politics and them guys. Have you seen your pro-Palestinian stance affect your career at all? Well, I was getting a lot of hate mail and stuff. And I still get that. And you were confronted by hecklers at a Yankee game who were filming you and asking you to say, “Fuck Palestine.” That lady [Lizzy Savetsky] who does a lot of Instagram stuff. She did something where she stood in front of my house, she was holding up an Israeli flag, went on a tirade and then stuffed an Israeli flag into my mailbox. That sounds like harassment to me. It really is against the law when you mess with someone’s mail. I’m curious what you think about people in the industry like Mark Ruffalo, who’s basically been branded a terrorist just for speaking up about Palestinian human rights. Look, that lobby is very powerful and if you get on their list, they’re not going to make life easy. But people have their beliefs, and they’re not going to bend down. Did you see my man on the Texans, Azeez Al-Shaair, was writing the names of dead Palestinian kids on a patch on his face? And the NFL fined him for it. I want to bring things back to the Knicks: What are your hopes for this season? Back-to-back! We still have to re-sign Karl-Anthony Towns and Josh Hart. Pay them their money!