Actor Clifton Powell is airing out his grievances with Spike Lee. And the things he shared just might come as a surprise to you.
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The “Next Friday” actor spoke his truth in a new interview for The Art of Dialogue where he reflected on his past comments about the “Malcolm X” director. Specifically, he’s talking about his previous interview on The Russ Par Morning Show in 2011 where he spoke in explicit terms about his disdain for Lee.
“I don’t like Spike. I have never said it publicly, but Spike is a hater. He was doing all these movies, Sam [Samuel L. Jackson] and all these guys know he’s a hater. He kept all the money, there was lawsuits against him. Spike needs to go sit his punk a** down and stop talking about Tyler Perry,” Powell said back then.
Jump to nearly 15 years later and Powell is seemingly still standing 10 toes down on how he feels.
“If you go research and ask some actors the kind of business that he did, you’ll be able to make a determination for yourself,” Powell told The Art of Dialogue in a new interview clip released on Tuesday. “I think him and Denzel working together are amazing. It’s certain things that African American producers do, that white producers do that I’m never going to agree with. And I got a lot of flack for it.”
Powell went on to clarify that while he doesn’t “dislike” Lee anymore, he’s still not of fan of some of his business practices. He pushed back against people saying that he was being negative about the Academy Award-winning director and argued that they ought to do their research like he had before they speak. Powell then went on to say that he stands by his critiques of Lee regardless of how others feel.
“I never threatened him, but I don’t appreciate how he did business with us back in the day. Not me, but my friends because I never worked with him…we gotta be better than The Man to each other. I know y’all understand that,” he said.
Powell concluded by saying that his comments towards Lee were prompted by the “Do the Right Thing” director’s comments about Tyler Perry from 2009, in which he labeled Perry’s work as “coonery and baffoonery.” Powell said that Lee should’ve expressed his ire to Perry privately and not out in public and also called his own self out for calling out Lee and putting his problems with him on front street.
“If I had Spike’s number, I should’ve called him. I was just playing around, I was in the studio, I was playing around making a joke and it went viral. But I don’t respect his business policies,” Powell said. “But I should’ve called him and told him that. Or I should’ve sought him out and pulled him to the side. So I learned something from that.”
Once his words began circulating online, many on social media were torn with how they felt. While others felt like Powell should be able to speak his peace, they weren’t a fan of him praising Perry.
“Okay get your sh*t off your chest about Spike if that’s what you feel like doing but negro defending Tyler Perry in the same breath make you look crazy as f*ck,” wrote one user on X/Twitter.
“I think Spike is an a*shole. But I can’t blame him for paying less bc he had to stretch every dime getting those flicks made. He couldn’t even pay Denzel properly for X,” said another.
Added another user: “He might be a ‘C list’ celebrity but Clifton Powell is an A grade thespian. He’s earned the right to speak on his industry and even if you disagree you have to put a certain gravitas to anything he says because he’s been there and done that.”
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