One month after Spike Lee criticized actor Clint Eastwood over his portrayal of African-American characters, the director gets hit for almost the same reason. A leading Italian-American group described Lee’s comments about Eastwood as hypocritical, as he had allegedly done the same thing in his movies with the Italians. Bill Dal Cerro, president of the Italic Institute of America accused Lee of an anti-Italian bias in his films.

It was during the Festival de Cannes, when the African-American director accused Eastwood of not casting any black actor in his Iwo Jima movies "Flags of Our Fathers" and "Letters From Iwo Jima." According to The Hollywood Reporter, Eastwood replied by saying that both movies were historically accurate, adding that Lee should "shut his face." Spike immediately responded saying that Clint "is not my father, and we're not on a plantation."

Lee was criticized in the past for his portrayal of Italian-Americans in two of the director’s movies "Do the Right Thing" and "Jungle Fever." Moreover, the group also expressed worry about “Miracle at St. Anna,” Lee’s upcoming film, which tells the story of the 92^nd Buffalo Division that fought the Germans in Italy.

THR reports that Dal Cerro described Spike Lee as a very talented director. However, the president of the Italic Institute of America said that he wished Lee having practiced what he preached. "His points about African-Americans are well taken, but, ironically, he does the same thing to Italians in his films," Dal Cerro said.