A bizarre incident unfolded at a restaurant in New York, where one of Hollywood’s most renowned directors, Spike Lee, sat down for dinner with several friends. Only quick intervention by those around him stopped the 69-year-old filmmaker from lunging at the diner, all over one small, though not entirely innocent, question.
One table away from Lee, who is also considered the most famous fan of the NBA champion New York Knicks, sat an unnamed fan of the team, who could not resist jabbing at the director and wondered aloud, “Mr. Lee, what do you think about Palestine?” Lee’s temper flared and he shot up from his chair, furious.
New York Knicks game (AP). AP
“Why are you trying to start with me?” Lee shouted in a fit of rage at the man, as one of the restaurant’s employees and his friends forcibly grabbed him and held him back from lunging at the man who asked the question. The fan remained calmly seated and even appeared pleased that he had managed to anger Lee.
The restaurant manager, who had been standing with Lee’s party, quickly responded to the incident, and signaled to the unnamed fan that he had to leave, saying, “Please get up, there’s no choice, you need to leave here.” The fan was unfazed and asked, perhaps feigning innocence, “Me? What did I even do?”
His feigned innocence did not help. The restaurant manager insisted, and the provoking fan was shown the door. On social media, sweeping support emerged for the pro-Palestinian celebrity, with claims that “it’s crossing a line to harass a famous person who is just sitting down to eat a meal with friends.”
Dining and Cooking