Spike Lee urges “Black folk” to “claim” Pope Leo after viral meeting
After being invited into the Vatican by Pope Leo, coveted director Spike Lee has thrown praise upon the head of the Catholic Church.
Earlier this month, the new Pope hosted the first-ever Hollywood audience, including Cate Blanchett. Others in attendance included Chris Pine, Viggo Mortensen, Alison Brie, Dave Franco, and Monica Bellucci.
Upon meeting the religious figure, Lee gifted the Chicago-born ruler a customised Knicks jersey. The exchange quickly went viral online.
Referencing the well-known moment at a recent press conference, Lee shared, as per Variety, “People who never knew who I was now do, all because of this picture of the Pope holding up the jersey.”
Speaking further on their encounter, he reflected on the fact that he first believed the invitation was a hoax. He shared, “I got an email from his office, and I thought it was fake.
Lee continued, “Another word in English for fake is ‘fugazi’… but they wrote back that this was going to be about cinema, so right away I was floating.”
Consequently, the Pope won Lee over. “The Pope was telling the truth, as he saw it, about how cinema could have a great impact for good,” he commented.
Lee then added, “His people are Black. Do your research. His family comes from New Orleans — Creole. Lot of intermarriage. So Black folks, we claim him. We call him our brother!”
Pope Leo also welcomed Al Pacino to the Vatican back in June, marking a pontiff’s first-ever meeting with an actor.
He also recently met with Robert De Niro and his family, while the actor was being awarded the ‘Lupa Capitolina’, the highest honour bestowed by the city of Rome.
Pope Leo’s four favourite movies are It’s A Wonderful Life from 1947, The Sound of Music from 1965, Ordinary People from 1980, and Life is Beautiful from 1997.
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