Spike Lee thinks Denzel Washington should’ve gotten his Academy Award due for the 1993 biopic Malcolm X.
Washington brought the civil rights activist and Muslim minister to life in Lee’s film, and now, over thirty years later, the powerhouse duo is back for their fifth collaboration Highest 2 Lowest. While premiering the crime-thriller at this week’s 2025 Cannes Film Festival, Lee brought up Washington’s Best Actor snub from 1993, insisting he deserved the win over Al Pacino.
“‘Malcolm X,’ what he did with that film was amazing,” Lee declared during Tuesday’s (May 20) Cannes press conference. “And no disrespect to my brother Al Pacino, I love him. But Denzel, in my opinion, should have won.”
The filmmaker then made a sports comparison, likening awards to basketball “where the ref blows a call and you have to make a call.”
“So the call I think was Training Day, which he won an Oscar for,” Lee added. “But we don’t do our work for awards, which are nice, but it’s the work that is going to stand above all awards.”
Washington, who’s taken home two Academy Awards, also snagged Best Supporting Actor for Glory in 1990.
With Malcolm X hitting his 100th birthday on Monday (May 19), Lee paid tribute to the iconic activist on Instagram with a ‘Centennial Celebration.’ The film also earned a Best Costume Design nomination at the 1993 Oscars, an award that costume designer Ruth E. Carter didn’t win then but finally claimed in 2019 for her stunning work on Black Panther.
