"Don't know how much we can talk...": Spike Lee has this to say about Trump at Cannes 2025

Cannes [France], May 20 : Legendary filmmaker Spike Lee is currently in Cannes, where his film 'Highest 2 Lowest', which premiered out of competition at the 78th edition of the prestigious film festival.
Durng a press conference at the festival, Spike Lee answered several questions. He also threw some shade at US President Donald Trump, as per Variety.
When asked about if social media has jeopardized morals in America, Lee replied, "I don't know how much we can talk about American values considering who is the president."
He continued: "My wife said, 'Spike, be very careful what you say!' But here's the thing, I don't think we can condemn social media. People say the same thing about film or whatever. So I'm not going to demonise the form."
Later on, when asked more directly about Trump's proposed tariffs on foreign-made films, Lee said he "doesn't have the answer for that" but acknowledged that "people are hurting."
"No one's working," Lee said. "The guy just said he wanted to put a tariff on every film that shot... I don't know how that's going to work."
Lee was joined in the Cannes press conference by Jeffrey Wright and Ilfenesh Hadera. Their film "Highest 2 Lowest" premiered on Tuesday night to a 5.5-minute standing ovation and a surprise honorary Palme d'Or for lead Denzel Washington, as per Variety.
It is an English-language remake of Japanese director Akira Kurosawa's 1963 film "High and Low," is set in modern day New York and stars Washington as a music mogul tied up in a life-or-death ransom plot. Rocky plays Yung Felon, an aspiring rapper who will stop at nothing to achieve his dream.
The screenplay was penned by William Alan Fox. After premiering at Cannes, "Highest 2 Lowest" will be released in theatres on August 22 via A24 and will stream on Apple TV+ September 5.