‘Green Book’ Win Gives Spike Lee ‘Driving Miss Daisy’ Deja Vu: ‘Ref Made a Bad Call’
Spike Lee’s beloved New York Knicks won Sunday night, but his “BlackKklansman” was among the films that lost Best Picture to “Green Book” at the Oscars.
The director likened the decision to a referee making a bad call.Asked about his reaction to the “Green Book” win, Lee, holding champagne, declared, “let me take another sip.” After a sip, he added tactfully, “next question.” But after a pause, he added: “I thought it was courtside at the Garden and the ref made a bad call.”At the Oscars in 1990, “Driving Miss Daisy” won best Picture.
The film is about a white Southern lady played by Jessica Tandy and her relationship with her black chauffeur, played by Morgan Freeman.
Lee’s acclaimed “Do the Right Thing” wasn’t nominated in the main category.“Green Book,” meanwhile, is about a white driver (Viggo Mortensen) for a black musician, Don Shirley (Mahershala Ali
