Cannes jury president Spike Lee said he had “no excuses” after accidentally announcing the winner of Palme d’Or ahead of schedule on Saturday at the very beginning of the closing ceremony.

“I have no excuses. I messed up,” he said during the jury press conference for the 74th Cannes Film Festival. “I’m a big sports fan. It’s like the guy at the end of the game in the foul line, he misses the free throw, or a guy misses a kick.”

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Lee read out the recipient of the top prize instead of announcing the best actor award, which seemed to be an oversight.

After Lee announced ‘Titane,’ there was a lot of yelling and commotion, but the director of the film, Julia Ducournau, did not walk to the platform to accept the award. Other prizes were given out while the event progressed, but Lee was seen holding his head in his hands.

Talking about the mishap, Lee further added that he communicated with the representatives of the festival to express his regret.

“I was very specific to speak to the people of Cannes and tell them that I apologise. They said forget about it.”

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Later, he addressed the situation yet again briefly in the press conference, “This year, especially, after COVID-19. This is historic. Besides me f*cking up, this is historic,’ he quipped.

The ‘BlacKkKlansman’ director made his initial mistake when the ceremony’s hostess, French actress Doria Tillier, prompted him to share the evening’s first prize. However, a misunderstanding led to Lee revealing who won the Palme d’Or — Julia Ducournau’s ‘Titane’. 

Although Ducournau knew what was coming, she still broke into tears while accepting the award. She went on to say, “This evening has been perfect because it’s so not perfect.”

Following the incident, Lee quickly requested Dillier to speak in English to avoid any further confusion.

During the ceremony, Lee referenced the slip-up when he came on stage yet again to actually reveal the winner. “In 63 years of life I’ve learned that people get a second chance, this is my second chance,” he said. “I apologize for messing up. It took a lot of suspense out of the night I understand, it wasn’t on purpose.”

Lee chaired a majority-female team, which included French-Senegalese actor-director Mati Diop, American actor-filmmaker Maggie Gyllenhaal, Austrian director Jessica Hausner, French actor-helmer Mélanie Laurent, Brazilian helmer Kleber Mendonça Filho, French actor Tahar Rahim, and South Korean actor Song Kang-ho and cult French singer Mylene Farmer. 

This year, even amid the pandemic, Cannes pressed ahead with an ambitious schedule of world cinema despite lower attendance and innumerable safety guidelines and protocols.