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Spike Lee

( Jennifer S. Altman / For The Times )

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.

Comments (2)

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Imalan at 7:17 PM January 26, 2012

Very few people are interested enough in his statements to click on page after page after page of a slide show about them.

mogg tsur at 4:59 PM January 26, 2012

Spike Lee will always be counted on for meaningless diatribe. The talented film maker loses it when he tries to speak for a generation, a cause, or a people. Somehow he has come to believe that his success in entertainment is a license to spout racist vitriol and usurp the dialogue of America if not the world. Perhaps his puckish stature and gnome like visage have caused an insecurity in him that has fostered his overbearing boorishness and false bravado. He displays his ignorance every time he opens his mouth and, in his own words, 'c-word buffoon' that he is we endure it because, afterall he is entertaining.

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