Samuel L. Jackson Talks Beef with Spike Lee Over ‘Malcolm X’ Movie

July 22, 2023

*Samuel L. Jackson is speaking out about his feud with Spike Lee, which he said stemmed from a salary dispute for the film “Malcolm X.”

“I actually read with most of the people who auditioned for ‘Malcolm X.’ I was supposed to be the guy that turned Malcolm X on to Islam in prison. I forget who played that role,” Jackson shared in an interview with Vulture. “But it was still down to that Spike Lee scale-plus-10 salary thing. I was like, ‘I’m not going to work for no scale-plus-10.’”

The Jasmine Brand writes, “ “scale plus 10” salary refers to a pay rate for actors with a minimum daily or weekly pay rate established by the Screen Actors Guild. The “plus 10” refers to the 10 percent of an actor’s pay that goes toward their agent.”

“I used to call my agent every day to see if I had any auditions, callbacks, whatever. And my line to her every day was, ‘Hollywood call?’ She was like, ‘No, sir.’ So one day I called, she said, ‘As a matter of fact, yeah they did,” Jackson explained, Indie Wire reported. “You just won an award at the Cannes Film Festival.’ And I’m like, ‘What? For what?’ She said, ‘”Jungle Fever.”‘ I said, ‘They don’t give supporting actor awards at Cannes.’ She’s like, ‘They made up one for you.’ Get the f**k outta here! ‘And consequently, these people in Hollywood want to see you for this movie ‘White Sands.’”

Spike Lee and Jackson fell out when Jackson opted to star in the crime thriller “White Sands” instead of “Malcolm X.”

The wives of Lee and Jackson helped them mend their relationship, although it took some time.

Jackson explained in a previous interview, “[Our] wives would interact often, and we would all end up going to dinner together. Our relationship healed over those dinners and conversations. He told me at dinner he was going to remake ‘Oldboy’, and I was like, ‘Can I be in it?’”

Jackson has starred in several of Lee’s films, such as “Jungle Fever,” “Do The Right Thing,” and “School Daze.”

“He’s very efficient, knows what he wants, and doesn’t get in my way artistically–whatever I come with, I come with, and it’s cool,” Jackson said of Lee.