Entertainment Movies Drama Movies All About Spike Lee's Symbolic Oscars Look, from 'Love' and 'Hate' Rings to His Prince Tribute The BlacKkKlansman director revived the rings from his 1989 film By Julie Mazziotta Julie Mazziotta Julie Mazziotta is the Senior Sports Editor at PEOPLE, covering everything from the NFL to tennis to Simone Biles and Tom Brady. She was previously an Associate Editor for the Health vertical for six years, and prior to joining PEOPLE worked at Health Magazine. When not covering professional athletes, Julie spends her time as a (very) amateur athlete, training for marathons, long bike trips and hikes. People Editorial Guidelines Published on February 24, 2019 06:45PM EST Spike Lee is letting his jewelry do the talking at the Academy Awards. The BlacKkKlansman director, 61, showed off two large knuckle rings — one emblazoned with “LOVE” and the other with “HATE” — as he walked the red carpet at the 2019 Oscars. The rings are a bit of movie history — they were important props during an iconic moment in Lee’s 1989 film Do the Right Thing. In the scene, Radio Raheem, played by the late Bill Nunn, tells Lee’s character Mookie about the fight between love and hate, with his knuckle rings as the two sides caught in a boxing match for humanity. Be sure to check out PEOPLE’s full Oscars coverage to get the latest news on film’s biggest night. “The story of life is this,” Radio says in the scene. “One hand is always fighting the other. Left Hand Hate is kicking much ass and it looks like Right Hand Love is finished. Hold up. Stop the presses! Love is coming back, yes, it’s Love. Love has won. Left Hand Hate KO’ed by Love.” Spike Lee. Frazer Harrison/Getty The rings in Do the Right Thing. Lee, speaking to People TV on the Red Carpet Live special, said that the inspiration for the rings came from noir director and actor Robert Mitchum, who gave a similar speech with the two words tattooed on his hands in his 1955 film The Night of the Hunter. “We gotta make a choice,” Lee said of opting for love or hate. “Which one will it be?” Along with the rings, Lee wore an all-purple Ozwald Boateng suit in honor of the late Prince, and a custom-made gold, diamond and opal necklace in the singer’s trademark shape. He finished off the look with gold Air Jordan sneakers by Tinker Hatfield, commissioned by Michael Jordan. “I told Ozwald to make my pants high-waters so they see the Jordans,” Lee told the New York Times. “I don’t care what nobody’s wearing. I win the Oscar on the red carpet. Men, women, I don’t care if they’re wearing 15-inch heels. They can’t be messing with the Jordans I’m going to be wearing. I’m going to be as clean as the board of health. I’m going to be sharp as a razor.” RELATED VIDEO:The Class of 2019! Academy Award Nominees Pose for an Official Group Photo Ahead of the Oscars Lee also wore the rings for BlacKkKlansman’s Cannes premiere in May 2018. The movie, which is nominated for Best Picture at the 91st Academy Awards, addresses similar themes of racial discrimination as his 1989 film. Lee also earned his first-ever Best Director nomination for BlacKkKlansman. The film is up for six awards total during the awards show, broadcasting live from Los Angeles on Sunday, Feb. 24 at 8:00 p.m. ET/5:00 p.m. PT on ABC.