Spike Lee Reveals First Date W/ Wife Tonya Was At Madonna’s ‘Sex’ Book Release Party
Spike Lee Reveals First Date W/ Wife Tonya Was At Madonna’s ‘Sex’ Book Release Party
It looks like Spike Lee even had game back in the day. In a candid interview recently, the Oscar-winning filmmaker revealed that he and his wife, Tonya Lewis Lee, had their first date at Madonna’s Sex book release party.
Spike Lee and Tonya Lewis Lee first met at a trailer screening for his film Malcolm X in Washington D.C. in September 1992. Spike Lee recalled the fateful moment and said,
“So I’m going to the restroom and I see this woman coming to me and I know it might sound corny, but it’s true, time stopped.”
Tonya Lewis Lee also noticed her famous husband that night, he claimed.
“I said, ‘Damn!’ And so later on, she said the same thing. So we just looked at each other and then couldn’t see [each other] anymore.”
Still, it wasn’t until later that evening, when the two locked eyes on opposite sides of an escalator, that Spike knew he had to make a move. Interestingly enough, he was on a date with another woman. He said,
“So I tell the person I’m with, ‘I think I left my Montblanc pen upstairs,’ you know, something like that. I make a U-turn, go back on the escalator to find her, and ask her for, you know, her number.”
He then explained that he called her later that week and invited her as his date to “Madonna’s Sex book party.”
At the time Spike’s approach was unconventional. The Sex book release party wasn’t in Washington D.C., so Tonya Lewis Lee had to travel for the event. Working at a law firm at the time, Spike’s wife became instantly famous among her peers as she was “busted” and seen on the news at the controversial bash.
Tonya Lewis Lee had a slightly different story to tell. In an interview previously published by Essence Magazine, she revealed that Spike interrogated her when they first met.
She reminisced about his line of questioning, stating that he asked her,
“‘Are you an actress? A model? A singer? Who are you here with? What do you do? Do you have a boyfriend?”’
It wasn’t long before the pair attended Malcolm X’s movie premiere together and tied the knot the following year, in October 1993. The power couple shares two children, Satchel and Jackson.
What do you think about Spike and Tonya’s first date? Comment below.
[VIA: 1]