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Video: Spike Lee Does The Right Thing, Compensates Couple For Twitter Mess
By
Ben Yakas
Published Mar 30, 2012
Modified Mar 30, 2012
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By
Ben Yakas
Published Mar 30, 2012
Modified Mar 30, 2012
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After mistakenly tweeting an elderly Florida couples address—thinking it was the address of George Zimmerman, the man who shot 17-year-old Trayvon Martin—to his 240,000+ followers, Spike Lee has agreed to an amicable settlement with Elaine and David McClaine. He also called them personally to reiterate his apology: "He was really kind," Elaine McClain said. "And when he called us, you could just tell he really felt bad about it. And it was just a slip, and I just know that he really, really has been concerned."
The McClaines had been living out of a hotel since the tweet last Friday, and had received a few death threats—including one which read "TASTE THE RAINBOW," a reference to Martin holding Skittles the night he was shot. The family's attorney, Matt Morgan, was even able to slip his own Lee reference into his statement: "The McClains are relieved that this matter is now behind them. We had a very sincere and heartfelt conversation with Mr. Lee today. His apology was genuine and our clients were grateful. We asked Mr. Lee to do the right thing and he did."
Despite his Twitter-apology Tuesday night, Lee didn't deal with the situation formally soon enough it seems—Jon Stewart spent some time mocking Lee during his latest segment, Jon Stewart Examines Other Men's Boners Gaffe Watch. Skip to 2:05 to see Stewart chide Lee for "sending a lynch mob to anybody's address" and for stealing Sally Jessy Raphael's glasses:
Tagged
Elaine McClain
george zimmerman
Mixup
spike lee
trayvon martin
Ben Yakas
Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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