Spike Lee, who was serving as a juror at Cannes Film Festival this week, accidentally spoiled the winner of the event’s top prize, the Palme d’Or, at the start of the award ceremony. He compared his mistake to missing a clutch free throw in a basketball game.
“I have no excuses. I messed up,” Spike said at a press conference, per Deadline. “I’m a big sports fan. It’s like the guy at the end of the game in the foul line, he misses the free throw, or a guy misses a kick, so no apologies.”
He added that he “was very specific to speak to the people of Cannes and tell them that I apologize. They said forget about it.”
Andreas Rentz / Getty Images
Lee was tasked with announcing the first winner of the night, but accidentally revealed that Titane would be awarded the Palme d’Or later in the evening.
“In my 63 years of life, I’ve learned people get a second chance. So this is my second chance. I apologize for messing up,” he said. “It took a lot of suspense out of the night.”
His fellow juror, Maggie Gyllenhaal, called the slip-up “an injection of humanity into the middle of the ceremony.”
Check out the clip of Lee’s mistake below.
[Via]