Most of us remember when legends, Denzel Washington and director/actor, Spike Lee, teamed up to bring the life of Malcolm X to the forefront like only they can. It was on November 18, 1992, that the world witnessed that undeniable on-screen magic transpire. What many didn’t know at that time, was that there was crazy turmoil going on behind the scenes that was damn near as racially inspired as the real life experiences of Malcolm X.
Simply put, Spike didn’t have enough funding to get the movie completed during the post-production phase of the film. He revealed that Warner Bros. and also Completion Bond Co. -the company that took control over the film once it went $5 million over budget- refused to provide the type of funding they would to a White film.
The two companies sent Lee a certified letter, threatening to pull the plug on the movie because Spike needed more money to bring the masterpiece to fruition. Therefore, Spike reached out to his multimillionaire Black friends. Bill Cosby, Janet Jackson, Prince, Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, Oprah Winfrey and Peggy Cooper-Cafritz, founder of the Duke Ellington School of the Arts in Washington, all stepped up to help the brotha out in his time of need.
In a 1992 interview with LA Times here is what Spike revealed about that:
“We got caught between Warner Bros. and the bond company,” Lee said Wednesday. “I did not want to shut down and wait who knows how long until Warner Bros. and the bond company completed what needed to be done. I was already tapped out.”
In the past Lee has said that Hollywood is more willing to gamble on big-budget projects by white filmmakers. But Wednesday, even bond company president Bette Smith, who is black, did not escape his criticism. “Bette Smith is a black woman but (Supreme Court Justice) Clarence Thomas is supposed to be black too,” Lee told The Times. “Skin color doesn’t mean anything.”“Bill Cosby was the first person I called,” Lee added, noting that the phone calls soliciting funds were hard to make. “I was in Los Angeles and he was in New York. I got the check the same day. It was dropped off that evening at my hotel.”
Cosby declined to say Wednesday how much money he put into the film. “I was in line with everybody else,” he said from Philadelphia, where he is taping the new TV show “You Bet Your Life.”
Winfrey also declined to disclose exactly how much money she sent Lee. “I told him I would give him the money because if I were in a similar situation, I hoped someone would do the same for me,” she said.
Lee said he saw the outpouring of money as historic. “It was because of them that we were able to keep working,” Lee said. “They kept the payroll going.” He stressed that the money he received was not a loan. “It’s a gift.”
“To me, the story is not about what Warner Bros. isn’t doing,” he said. “To me, the story is how prominent African-Americans came together and saved the movie.”
Spike Lee Pays Homage 25 Years Latee
On Saturday (Nov. 18, 2017), Spike showed that he’s never forgotten what the legends did for him in 1992 and he took to Twitter to show his gratitude 25 years later:
https://twitter.com/SpikeLee/status/931930656795430913
“BIG BLACK LOVE To Magic And Michael Jordan. These People (Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, Prince, Janet Jackson, Oprah Winfrey, Tracey Chapman, Peggy Cooper-Cafritz And Bill Cosby) Who Helped Me Finish The Financing Of The Under Budgeted MALCOLM X. I’ll Never Forget This.”
Like my mother always said, “You just never know where your blessings are gonna come from, but always be grateful for them all.”
