#Spike Lee Deeply Apologizes for Defending Woody Allen: My Words Were Wrong

Spike Lee has taken back his words of defense for fellow filmmaker Woody Allen. Lee, who is doing the rounds of tv and web shows promoting his new Netflix film Da 5 Bloods, had initially been critical of the cancel-culture that led to Allen’s fall from grace in Hollywood. But in a recent Tweet, Lee apologized for appearing to have dismissed the allegations against Allen of sexual assault.

“I Deeply Apologize. My Words Were WRONG. I Do Not And Will Not Tolerate Sexual Harassment, Assault Or Violence. Such Treatment Causes Real Damage That Can’t Be Minimized.-Truly, Spike Lee.”

During the #MeToo storm that had overtaken Hollywood, Woody Allen had been accused by his adoptive daughter Dylan Farrow of molesting her when she was seven years old. Although police have not been able to prove Allen had committed any crime, many film celebs had distanced themselves from the filmmaker following a public outcry against him, leaving Allen out of work and seemingly ‘canceled’. In an interview on New York City radio station WOR’s talk show “In the Morning,” Lee had taken issue with Hollywood casting Allen out as a pariah.

“I’d just like to say Woody Allen is a great, great filmmaker and this cancel thing is not just Woody. And I think when we look back on it we are going to see that – short of killing somebody – I don’t know you that you can just erase somebody like they never existed. Woody is a friend of mine, a fellow Knick fan, so I know he’s going through it right now.”

With his latest tweet, Lee seems to have switched sides, and now joins the critics who have been calling for Allen to be held responsible for his actions against his stepdaughter.

For his part, Allen himself said in a recent interview for The Guardian that he feels that a lot of the current censorious attitude of Hollywood artists and businessmen towards him is part of a ‘self-serving’ trend.

“It’s silly. The actors have no idea of the facts and they latch on to some self-serving, public, safe position. Who in the world is not against child molestation? That’s how actors and actresses are, and [denouncing me] became the fashionable thing to do, like everybody suddenly eating kale. You can give them the facts over and over. But the facts don’t matter. For some reason, emotionally, it’s important for them to buy into the story.”

For his part, Lee might have realized how damaging his support for Allen would be for his new movie. Da 5 Bloods tells the story of four African American vets who are forced to battle against man and nature itself when they return to Vietnam on a quest to recover the remains of their fallen squad leader and the gold fortune he helped them hide.

The film has been garnering positive reviews from critics, with a 92% certified fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes, heralding Lee’s triumphant return to moviemaking.

I Deeply Apologize. My Words Were WRONG. I Do Not And Will Not Tolerate Sexual Harassment, Assault Or Violence. Such Treatment Causes Real Damage That Can’t Be Minimized.-Truly, Spike Lee.

— Spike Lee (@SpikeLeeJoint) June 13, 2020