Spike Lee Praises Denzel Washington’s ‘Malcolm X’, Says He ‘Should Have’ Won Oscar Over Al Pacino

Spike Lee believes that Denzel Washington deserved his flowers from the Academy Awards for 1993 biopic Malcolm X.

Washington portrayed the civil rights activist and Muslim minister in the Lee-directed film, and over thirty years later, the actor and filmmaker are collaborating on their fifth project Highest 2 Lowest. While debuting the crime-thriller at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival this week, Lee recalled Washington's Best Actor snub in 1993, and expressed that the actor deserved it over Al Pacino.

"'Malcolm X,' what he did with that film was amazing," Lee said during a Cannes press conference on Tuesday (May 20). "And no disrespect to my brother Al Pacino, I love him. But Denzel, in my opinion, should have won."

The director then compared awards to basketball, "where the ref blows a call and you have to make a call."

"So the call I think was Training Day, which he won an Oscar for," Lee continued. "But we don’t do our work for awards, which are nice, but it’s the work that is going to stand above all awards."

Washington, a two-time Oscar winner, also won Best Supporting Actor for Glory in 1990.

As Malcolm X would have turned 100 on Monday (May 19), Lee honored the late activist on Instagram with a 'Centennial Celebration.' The film was also nominated for Best Costume Design at the 1993 Oscars, which costume designer Ruth E. Carter wouldn't win, although she finally received the award in 2019 for her work in Black Panther.