Spike Lee Arrived at the BET Awards Looking Exactly Like Willy Wonka

Director's Prince tribute became the butt of a joke

By Francesca Bacardi Jun 27, 2016 12:51 PMTags
Willy Wonka, Spike Lee, BET AwardsParamount Pictures, Kevin Winter/BET/Getty Images for BET

Famed director and producer Spike Lee, who also happens to have an extensive hat collection, chose an interesting topper to wear to the 2016 BET Awards.

The Do the Right Thing creator showed up to the awards show in a blue suit, purple tie and purple top hat, and the combination immediately caused people to realize that Lee looked exactly like fictional candy bar and chocolatier Willy Wonka. Although meant to be a tribute to his late friend Prince, Lee's wardrobe choice couldn't be handled by the Internet, which immediately arrived in full force with hilarious jokes, memes and more.

"Spike Lee look like he bout to send out 5 golden tickets," joked one Twitter user.

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Although it was an unintentional twin, we do have to agree that Lee did, in fact, resemble our favorite candy maker; however, other Prince tributes throughout the evening proved to be both powerful and emotional. His former fiancée, Sheila E, helped end the show with a strong performance the ended in tears. Sheila E got the crowd on its feet as an entire band joined her in a medley of the "When Doves Cry" singer's hits. Featuring classic dance moves, sounds of the trumpet and plenty of energy, the performance made viewers feel like they were experiencing a Prince-approved performance.

As audience members including Jamie Foxx sang along, Sheila proved that watching the show until the very end was worth it. In fact, after her performance, cameras zoomed in on Sheila as she held a purple guitar in her hand as tears began to fill her face.

What did you think of the tributes? Sound off in the comments!

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