Famed filmmaker Spike Lee protests, boycotts over NY Post cartoon

Famed filmmaker Spike Lee protests, boycotts over NY Post cartoon

Written by: Karen Benardello


Famed filmmaker and director Spike Lee is asking his fellow celebrities to shun and boycott the the New York Post over the editiorial cartoon published on Wednesday, which he is calling "racially charged."

Lee feels the cartoon, which shows a dead chimp with the caption: "They'll have to find someone else to write the next stimulus bill," is a direct comparison between President Obama and a crazed chimpanzee. As a result, he stood in front of the Post's headquarters on Friday with 300 other protestors, saying the cartoon is an insult to everyone, not just blacks. Among the other protestors was Lee's 11-year-old son and the Rev. Al Sharpton, who called the paper "a racist rag sheet."

In response to the protestors, the paper posted an editorial on its Web site on Thursday, saying the cartoon was meant to mock the federal economic stimulus bill, but it did apologize to those who were offended by the image. But the editorial also took an indirect dig at the protestors, calling them "opportunists" who were just waiting for a chance for payback with the Rupert Murdoch-owned paper, which has a conservative bent.