Can’t We All Just Get Along: Should Spike Lee Back Off Tyler Perry?

Can’t we all just get along? Rodney King uttered those famous words in 1992 when it was clear America still had a big race relations problem. Fast forward 19 years and we’re witnessing some Black on Black hate that could get pretty ugly. Spike Lee has been throwing jabs at Tyler Perry for the last couple of years, but most recently the “Do the Right Thing” filmmaker’s criticism has gotten under Perry’s skin. With the upcoming release of Perry’s latest installment in the Madea series, “Madea's Big Happy Family,” the Atlanta-based director/producer/writer/actor responded to Lee’s claim that his films and TV shows promote “cooning and buffoonery.”

“I'm so sick of hearing about damn Spike Lee. Spike can go straight to hell! You can print that,” Perry said during a press conference for his new film. “I am sick of him talking about me, I am sick of him saying, 'This is a coon, this is a buffoon.' I am sick of him talking about Black people going to see movies. This is what he said: 'You vote by what you see,' as if Black people don't know what they want to see…"