The African sun was scorching, and several black people, barely clothed, appeared extremely emaciated, with their ribs visibly protruding, indicating long-term malnutrition.
A tall man stood beside them, checking the almost open-air tents' water and food supplies. His facial expression turned extremely serious, as if deeply pained but powerless to do anything, and he could only hug the black people one by one, offering temporary comfort through words.
The scene shifted to the tall man holding a black boy, walking into a group of black children. Ignoring the muddy ground and animal feces, he squatted in front of several children, trying to amuse them.
The scene shifted again to the man in a large circular conference room, passionately calling on the world to pay attention to the African refugee crisis.
The video playing on the large screen bore the mark of the UNHCR. Those with some knowledge could easily guess that this was an authorized video by the UNHCR.
The live broadcast hall fell silent. Even the black people, including Gilberto Silva, looked at Spike Lee with varying degrees of disdain.
A celebrity who could go deep into African conflict zones, intimately interacting with black refugees and children, and vocally advocating for black refugees on the international stage—would you believe it if someone said he was racist?
"Ah... spit!" Thompson raised his middle finger at the TV screen again. "Spike Lee is a disgrace to us black people!"
Daenerys snorted coldly. "Trash like Spike Lee should be humanely destroyed."
"Right!" a black man behind her shouted. "I really want to beat him up!"
In the mansion, Will Smith's expression was serious, gradually realizing that Spike Lee was in big trouble today.
"What do these prove? Nothing!" Jada Smith's disdainful voice rang out. "Can African blacks be compared to us?"
"Jada!" Will Smith immediately interrupted her. "Don't say such brainless things. Remember! Don't say them outside!"
"Uh..." Jada Smith didn't say anything but internally disagreed.
In the live broadcast hall, Spike Lee also thought of this first—could African blacks be compared to them?
He opened his mouth but swallowed the words back.
However, deep down, one belief would never change: African blacks couldn't compare to him.
This wasn't just his thought but a concept shared by many in his circle.
Oprah glanced at Spike Lee. This guy was destined to ruin his reputation. Since he refused her goodwill and insisted on carrying on, thinking his skin color would shield him, let him continue. Her show hadn't had such sensational content in a long time.
Let Spike Lee contribute to the glory of the Oprah talk show one more time!
After all, it wasn't her who would suffer.
Matthew didn't say anything for the moment because the video continued to play.
Trucks arrived at refugee camps, distributing desperately needed supplies to countless black refugees under the protection of numerous blue-helmeted peacekeepers. The trucks prominently displayed the logos of the UNHCR and the Matthew Horner Foundation.
In just over half a minute, the video showed multiple African refugee camps receiving aid from the Matthew Horner Foundation.
The recipients of the aid included women, children, the elderly, and the disabled, but without exception, they were all black!
Watching the video on the big screen, Gilberto Silva was beyond furious. His hand reached into his bag again, touching his egg!
"Spike Lee is too shameless!"
"Does he have any decency?"
"I've never seen someone so shameless!"
The murmurs around him turned into voices scolding Spike Lee.
Gilberto Silva twirled the egg in his hand, his eyes on Spike Lee burning with a newly ignited flame.
The faces of the black refugees, though silent, clearly displayed joy.
The video still bore the UNHCR mark, attesting to its credibility.
An African local black leader, speaking broken English, expressed gratitude to the UN, Matthew Horner, and his charity foundation.
A UN peacekeeping officer highly praised Matthew Horner's aid efforts.
In the audience, eyes filled with disdain turned to Spike Lee. Matthew Horner, a racist? Who's being fooled? Do they really think we're idiots?
Countless viewers in front of their TVs simultaneously despised Spike Lee.
In a Beverly Hills mansion, Sid Ganis, the current rotating chairman of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, was also watching the live talk show.
The TV screen cut to a close-up of Spike Lee.
"This guy..." He shook his head and said to his son beside him, "Spread the word outside that I really dislike Spike Lee's methods."
A middle-aged man nodded. "Okay."
Though his father was only a rotating chairman, seemingly without much power, the number of people he could influence was significant.
He knew very well that with his father's words, plus tonight's talk show, Spike Lee and "Inside Man" were pretty much out of this year's Oscars.
Sid Ganis watched the TV screen. These black people had no sense of proportion. What was given to them was theirs. What wasn't given, did they still want to grab?
The Academy had given some benefits over the years, and they thought they were the biggest force in Hollywood?
As for Spike Lee, he knew quite a bit. Putting it nicely, Spike Lee was a leader in Hollywood's black political movement.
In reality, he was just a troublemaking jerk.
If it weren't for concerns about reputation and the impact of public opinion, these conservative middle-aged and older people wouldn't have tolerated him for so many years.
This guy, with or without factual basis, would always find something to spray about. Attacking younger people like Matthew Horner was one thing, but attacking Eastwood was a joke.
Didn't he know attacking Eastwood was a joke? Sid Ganis realized that people like Spike Lee had been spoiled over the years.
But given the current social climate...
Sid Ganis shook his head. After all, he was just a rotating chairman of the Academy, with no power to change the entire environment.
On stage, Spike Lee's expression remained as dark as ever, making it hard to tell if there had been any change.
Oprah didn't say much either. There was no need now; the audience's own judgment was more effective.
Matthew remained as composed as before, just as he had when Spike Lee accused him.
What he said and did earlier were all laying the groundwork for this moment. Now, there was no need to say much more. Spike Lee's racial advantage was undeniable and couldn't be ignored.
After all, he was in Hollywood, not those few southern states.
The video continued, showing more scenes of refugees, local black officials, and peacekeeping officers. Then, a UNHCR official appeared on screen, none other than the High Commissioner for Refugees, António Guterres.
This highest-ranking UNHCR official, dedicated to African and refugee issues, highly praised Matthew's humanitarian actions in the video. He also relayed the words of the outgoing UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, commending Matthew for his great humanitarian spirit and practical help to African black refugees.
Matthew sat calmly on the single sofa, still without any display of emotion.
Oprah's gaze towards him changed. Although the UN was more like a tool controlled by the major powers, its reputation and influence were significant. The words of these two high-ranking officials couldn't be ignored.
In this situation, what else could Spike Lee do?
When it was time to take a stand, Oprah wouldn't hesitate. She would definitely and promptly stand on the side of justice.
The video paused for the moment, and the audience erupted like a pot boiling over.
"This is slander!"
"Spike Lee, have you no shame!"
The curses grew louder, and the backstage director was a bit embarrassed, instructing, "Lower the background noise."
To ensure the smooth running of the program, he had ordered the background noise to be lowered several times already. Otherwise, the curses at Spike Lee would have been broadcasted into countless households.
In the house in Westwood, cheers erupted as Brian and Thompson high-fived in celebration.
Even as ordinary people, they knew that with these videos out, all accusations against Matthew became slander. Spike Lee was nothing but a despicable liar!
"Discrimination my ass!"
Coincidentally, the TV screen cut to a close-up of Spike Lee, and Daenerys immediately raised her middle finger. "Do you have any shame!! @#￥@..."
A stream of expletives poured from her mouth.
Regardless of gender or race, everyone was cursing Spike Lee. If they were on the scene, they would have beaten that guy to death.
At the same time, Vin Diesel, watching this, unconsciously pressed the remote to turn off the TV.
"What an idiot!" he cursed Spike Lee. "I thought you had some key video evidence. Turns out it's the same as the past few years, all just spraying."
In Hollywood's black circle, Spike Lee's sharp tongue was well-known.
On stage, Oprah quickly decided where she stood. She turned to Spike Lee, pointing at the paused screen, and asked, "Director Lee, what do you think of this? Do you still believe Matthew is racially prejudiced?"
Her tone had a clear questioning edge, as if representing the countless dissatisfied viewers in front of their TVs, questioning Spike Lee.
"What does this prove? It only says that he..." Spike Lee pointed at Matthew, saying, "It shows he cares about African blacks. Does caring about African blacks mean he won't discriminate against American blacks?"
With this statement, Matthew was stunned, Oprah was stunned, the live audience was stunned, and even Will Smith in front of the TV was stunned.
Will Smith looked at Jada Smith, who weakly said, "I... I told you those things because I heard them from Lee at the club before."
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