UPDATE 12/9/15:
On Tuesday’s episode of MSNBC’s “All In With Chris Hayes,” Lee responded to Chance’s comments and shared his thoughts on the rapper’s father, Ken Bennett, who is the deputy chief of staff and director of Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s Office of Public Engagement.
“First of all, Chance the Rapper should say -- full disclosure: his father works for the mayor. He’s the chief of staff," Lee said. "Show me any criticism -- if he’s so concerned about Chicago -- do your research and show me where he’s made criticism about the mayor. Your findings would be surprising. He has not criticized the mayor. Why? His father works for the mayor, and on top of that, Jennifer Hudson is in the film – she plays a pivotal role. Jennifer Hudson’s mother, brother, and nephew were murdered in Chicago. If what Chance The Rapper is saying is true, then why would Jennifer be in the film?”
Previously: Since the announcement of Spike Lee’s latest film “Chi-Raq,” Chicago residents from Mayor Rahm Emanuel to rappers Rhymefest and King Louie have voiced their disapproval of how the New York-native is highlighting black-on-black gun violence in the city's Englewood neighborhood.
Chicago rapper Chance The Rapper has joined the growing list of critics, tweeting this weekend that the film is "exploitative and problematic."
He went on to comment on the film's plot -- which features women participating in a sex strike in an effort to stop gun violence in the city -- calling it offensive to any mother who lost a child in Chicago. "The idea that women abstaining from sex would stop murders is offensive and a slap in the face to any mother that lost a child here."
Last month Lee responded to critics who criticized him for making a film about Chicago to “rednecks” from the South during the Civil Rights era.
"That sounds like those redneck crackers in the South. When Civil Rights people come down to Mississippi or Alabama, ‘These rabble rousers come down here,'" Lee said during an appearance on “Windy City LIVE.” “'We know how to treat our Negroes good. We don't need nobody else come up there tell us how to work with our Negroes.' Same type of mentality."
“And then here’s another thing, people are saying, ‘You’ve never shown New York in a bad light,’” he added. “People are talking stuff that have never seen my films. Go back to ‘Clockers.’ ‘Clockers’ is 100 percent about black men killing black men. But a lot of people are judging the film on a two minute and 30-second trailer.”
According to Box Office Mojo, “Chi-Raq” opened in 305 theaters and pulled in $1.2 million during its opening weekend --which landed the controversial film at the #13 slot on this past weekend’s Box Office list.
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