Jamie Foxx Fires Back At Spike Lee Over 'Django Unchained' Criticisms

“Django Unchained” has drawn flak from several sources since its release on Christmas Day. While many right-wingers are uncomfortable with the film’s central premise of a black former slave-turned-bounty hunter (played by Foxx) seeking revenge on white slaveowners, Lee, who is African American, is uncomfortable with the movie’s use of racist language and its over-the-top portrayal of the antebellum South.

However, Foxx has routinely defended Tarantino’s film in comments made to the press, and he recently spoke with the Guardian about Lee’s criticisms of the movie.

"The question for me is: Where's Spike Lee coming from?" Foxx asked. "He didn't like Whoopi Goldberg, he doesn't like Tyler Perry, he doesn't like anybody, I think he's sort of run his course. I mean, I respect Spike; he's a fantastic director. But he gets a little shady when he's taking shots at his colleagues without looking at the work. To me, that's irresponsible."

Last month, Lee told VibeTV that he refused to see “Django Unchained” because the film was disrespectful to those who actually experienced slavery.

"All I'm going to say is that it's disrespectful to my ancestors," Lee said. "That's just me ... I'm not speaking on behalf of anybody else."

Lee took to Twitter soon after the VibeTV interview to criticize the movie, tweeting: "American Slavery Was Not A Sergio Leone Spaghetti Western. It Was A Holocaust. My Ancestors Are Slaves. Stolen From Africa. I Will Honor Them."

This is not the first time Lee has criticized Tarantino for the content of one of his films. Most notably, Lee condemned Tarantino over the use of the N-word in his 1997 movie “Jackie Brown,” which was an intentional homage to blaxploitation films of the 1970s.

"I'm not against the word. And some people speak that way. But Quentin is infatuated with that word," Lee said of Tarantino in an interview with Variety, according to Davey D's Hip Hop Corner. "What does he want to be made, an honorary black man? I want Quentin to know that all African Americans do not think that word is trendy or slick."

Last Sunday, "Django Unchained" picked up two Golden Globe Awards in the motion-picture division: one for Tarantino as writer of the best screenplay, and the other for Christoph Waltz as best supporting actor.