Spike Lee Broke the News to Obama About Charlottesville: ‘I Could See On His Face, That Shock’

Director Spike Lee recently revealed how he broke the news to Barack Obama about Charlottesville while the 44th president was playing golf.

The story was part of a new interview with Time discussing his upcoming film, BlacKkKlansman, a movie Lee says is aimed at changing the way America looks at racism.

According to Lee, as violent protests in Charlottesville unfolded, he was glued to his television at his home on Martha’s Vineyard. At one point though, he stepped outside to his backyard, which just so happens to right next to the golf course that Obama frequents.

That is when he spotted the Secret Service and made his way to Obama to break the news.

“I said, Mr. President, did you hear what happened in Charlottesville? He hadn’t.” Lee told Time about his presidential encounter.

He added that Obama appeared shocked.

“I could see on his face—that shock,” he said. “It was Aug. 12, year of our Lord, 2017.”

Lee also made it clear that while Obama may golf next to his house, they are not close friends.

“He ain’t calling me. We ain’t got it like that,” Lee said.

Time reached out to Obama for comment but did not get a reply.

Obama did, however, publicly respond to the events in Charlottesville in the aftermath of the deadly event.

His tweet quickly rose to the most liked Tweet of all time.

https://twitter.com/Twitter/status/897679617821089793?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E897679617821089793&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.washingtonpost.com%2Fnews%2Fthe-fix%2Fwp%2F2017%2F08%2F15%2Fobamas-response-to-charlottesville-violence-is-one-of-the-most-popular-in-twitters-history%2F

[image via screengrab]