Spike Lee: My wife deserves all the credit for raising our children

Spike Lee says his wife Tonya Lewis Lee deserves “all the credit” for bringing up their two children.

The 63-year-old filmmaker heaped praise on his “beautiful” spouse for raising Satchel, 26, and Jackson, 24, while he was often away making movies.

Speaking after he was honoured with the 34th American Cinematheque Award, he gushed: ”I have to give all the credit to my beautiful wife, Tonya, for the development of our children, Satchel and Jackson. There were many times where I was not in New York City. I was in another continent shooting films. I was away. So she gets all the credit.”

On receiving the accolade, he added to ‘Entertainment Tonight’: ”First of all I’m blessed. At Morehouse [College], I made the decision, which changed my life, [that] I wanted to be a filmmaker. When I made that decision I said, I have to be able to build a body of work. I cannot be some okie dokie, rudy prue, one and done, flash in a pan.”

Meanwhile, the ‘BlacKkKlansman’ helmer’s kids were recently named as the 2021 Golden Globes Ambassadors.

Ali Sar, the President of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, said in a statement: “We’re proud to welcome Satchel and Jackson Lee to an incredible roster of previous Golden Globe Ambassadors. Akin to their esteemed filmmaker father known for his uncompromising and provocative storytelling, Satchel and Jackson have already begun to blaze their own paths in the arts. We are honoured to see how they’ll use this platform to elevate the important issues of LGBTQ health and youth mentorship.”

As part of their roles, the siblings have each picked organisations to shine a light on, with Satchel choosing to honour Callen-Lorde – an organisation which helps LGBTQ communities in New York City – and Jackson opting to raise awareness for mentoring network Big Brothers Big Sisters.

Both organisations will receive a grant from the HFPA for $25,000, totalling $50,000 made on Satchel and Jackson’s behalf, per the HFPA.

The Golden Globe Awards will take place on February 28 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in California.