Spike Lee spent Wednesday evening doing what he has done for decades, eating dinner in a New York ballpark before a playoff game. Then he had to be held back by staff in the Legends Suite dining area at Yankee Stadium.
The 69-year-old director was pulled away from a fan who had been filming him while he ate, hours before the Yankees hosted the Red Sox in Game 2 of their wild-card series.
"Why'd you come over to me?" Lee shouted at the person restraining him, still dressed in red Yankees gear.
According to Fox Sports reporter Andy Slater, people seated near the table said the fan was recording Lee's meal and asked him how he felt about Palestine.
The encounter escalated from there. One person who approached for a selfie asked Lee to say "Fuck Palestine," and Lee got up from his seat and went looking for security as his anger grew.
A man in a blue sport jacket then pointed toward a nearby table. "You've gotta go. You've gotta go," he said. The fan was kicked out.
Lee had walked into the suite around 6:30 p.m. Wednesday and spent the early part of the evening in a good mood, posing for selfies with anyone who asked and keeping seats open at his table in case someone wanted to sit down.
He had been at the ballpark the night before, too, watching the Yankees' 9-0 Game 1 win over Boston on Tuesday night from behind the dugout alongside his daughter, Satchel.
Lee, who directed Do the Right Thing, is among the most visible fans in New York sports, and he trailed the Knicks from city to city during their championship run last season. He paired his Yankees jersey with a red NYC hat on Wednesday.
The Palestine question arrived seven months after Lee's appearance at February's NBA All-Star Weekend in Los Angeles, where he wore apparel with keffiyeh elements and carried a bag with a Palestinian flag strap. He later said the outfit was "not intended as a gesture of hostility to Jewish people... nor was it intended as a comment on the significance of Deni being an All-Star."
Requests for comment from Lee's reps and the Yankees were not immediately returned as the wild-card series continues in the Bronx.
