It's a good start. Spike Lee told Us Weekly that he's "happy" with the Academy’s announcement of plans to ensure a more diverse awards ceremony in coming years, but the movie director is still not going to attend the 2016 Oscars.
Talking on the red carpet for his Sundance documentary Off the Wall, about Michael Jackson's album of the same title, the 58-year-old movie maker was positive about the Academy's announcement of plans to double minority membership by 2020.
But while Lee is happy about the steps being taken, he wants to make it clear that this must be just the start.
"It's not going to be just one thing, it's going to be a lot of things that make the nominations more inclusive and representative," he told Us.
In addition to diversifying Academy membership, Lee has another idea.
"Someone suggested to me we should have the numbers, let's see who got how many votes," the director shared. "Those are two steps forward. This conversation has been going on a long time, but this year is clearly different," he went on.
"The conversation got so heated that the Academy had to do something. They did, and I'm very happy they did. Listen, we need a seat in the room, we don't have a seat in the room, and that's what is most important," he said.
But while steps are being made in the right direction, the director revealed earlier in the day, in conversation with the IMDb Studio, that he wasn't about to reverse his decision.
"I’m still going to the game. I’m not showing up. My wife and I, we made the decision, we’re not going to change our decision," he said. "We’ll be at Madison Square Garden, Sunday night, February 28th, New York Knickerbockers against the Miami Heat. We took a moral stance, and we’re not going to do a punk move and go back on our word."
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