Who Is Spike Lee's Wife? All About Producer Tonya Lewis Lee

Spike Lee and his wife, Tonya Lewis Lee, bring out the creativity in each other

Spike Lee and his wife, Tonya Lewis Lee, are two halves of one of the most enduring relationships in Hollywood.

The Do the Right Thing screenwriter and former lawyer first crossed paths at an event in Washington, D.C., in 1992 and within a year, they were married. Throughout their decades-long union, Spike and Tonya have welcomed two children — daughter Satchel in 1994 and son Jackson in 1997 — to whom they've passed on their creative ambitions.

While Spike may be the more recognizable name in the pairing, Tonya holds her own when it comes to her pursuits in Hollywood, including producing and writing important projects.

“We are really lucky to be working in the same fields and to also have different mindsets and provide different points of view for each other,” she told Ebony in May 2012. “Every now and then I consult him, and I know he’ll always be really honest with me."

Spike and Tonya have their respective accomplishments, but they also enjoy working together. The couple co-authored three children’s books and brought Spike’s 1986 film, She’s Gotta Have It, to the small screen in a Netflix series adaptation.

“It was my wife’s idea,” Spike told Vice in November 2017 about reimagining his award-winning film.

So who is Spike Lee's wife? Here's everything to know about Tonya Lewis Lee and her relationship with the film director.

She is from New York

Born outside New York City in Yonkers, N.Y., on March 30, 1966, Tonya is a native East Coaster.

She told Entourage Collection that one of her favorite places to wake up is “in my bed in New York City.”

Her love of the Big Apple is one Spike also shares as a lifelong Brooklyn resident. When he's not working on projects paying homage to the iconic location, he's often seen cheering on one of the local sports teams like the New York Knicks.

"It's very simple. I love New York City," Spike said at a press conference in December 2021, per CBS. "I'm a product of New York City public education, and it shaped me. I live and die New York City, the greatest city in the world."

She went to law school

Before she met Spike, Tonya had creative aspirations, but she took advice from her mom and dad and pursued a higher education instead.

“I really wanted to go into television as I was graduating from college, but I didn’t know how to do that," she told Coveteur in June 2019. "My parents, smartly, were like, ‘You need to make sure you’ve got something to fall back on.’ ”

Tonya attended Sarah Lawrence College and earned a bachelor's in liberal arts in 1988, according to a bio. She then enrolled at the University of Virginia School of Law and graduated with a J.D. in 1991.

Afterward, Tonya worked as an attorney at Nixon, Hargrave, Devans & Doyle in Washington, D.C., specializing in corporate and First Amendment issues.

She met Spike in 1992

Tonya met Spike when they were two of about 5,000 guests at the Congressional Black Caucus Dinner in Washington, D.C., in September 1992.

According to Tonya, he spotted her in the crowd and approached her, showing his interest through a series of questions.

“We walked past each other. Spike circled back around and proceeded to give me the third degree," she recounted to Essence. "'Are you an actress? A model? A singer? Who are you here with? What do you do? Do you have a boyfriend?' "

Within weeks, the filmmaker and lawyer were photographed at the Malcolm X movie premiere in November 1992, which Spike directed and produced.

They married in 1993

Less than a year after they first crossed paths, Spike and Tonya were married on Oct. 2, 1993, in a church in New York City.

According to the Associated Press, Stevie Wonder performed during the ceremony. The New York Times also reported that the newlyweds held their wedding reception at the American Museum of Natural History.

“I think marriage has taught me more about myself than anything. What I will and won’t put up with and what’s important to me,” she told Black Love in February 2020. “I believe in marriage ... It’s a mutual understanding that each individual has a lot to contribute to the other, the marriage, and the world.”

She and Spike share two kids

Spike and Tonya are proud parents to daughter Satchel and son Jackson.

The screenwriter and entrepreneur welcomed their first child, Satchel, on Dec. 2, 1994. Today, she is a multi-media artist who studied film and television at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, according to her website. Satchel is currently working on her MFA in photography at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

Her passion for the arts has also led Satchel to work with Spike. In 2022, she photographed her dad for The Washington Post Magazine, and Tonya was excited about their collaboration, sharing a behind-the-scenes snap of them on Instagram.

The couple also welcomed Jackson on May 23, 1997, and since then, he's taken after Spike with his interest in directing. Jackson made his debut with the 2020 short film Thompson Farm, which tells the story of a young man who stands up to his abusive adoptive father.

While speaking to Vulture in July 2012, Spike brought up their children and his hopes for them to continue to impact the world through their own work. "I know they are going to be the best legacy that my wife, Tonya, and I leave behind,” he said.

They have worked on different projects together

During their three-decade-long marriage, Spike and Tonya have joined forces in the film and literature worlds.

After she founded the production company Madstone Company in 1998, and helped develop programming for Nickelodeon, Tonya and her business partner Nikki Silver established ToniK Productions in 2014, which was behind the TV adaptation of Spike’s 1986 film She’s Gotta Have It.

With Tonya as the executive producer and Spike as the creator, director, and writer, they teamed up on the Netflix series of the same name that premiered in November 2017.

“Spike was really wonderfully collaborative,” Tonya told Entertainment Weekly, adding that it “[wasn’t] always easy,” but she described how she and other women producers would confer with Spike to offer a different point of view.

“Men have been writing characters forever, but there are things that men don’t know about women. Spike recognized and appreciated that” the former lawyer added.

Away from the cameras, Tonya has written three children's books in partnership with Spike, including Please, Baby, Please in November 2002, followed by Please, Puppy, Please in October 2005 and Giant Steps to Change the World in January 2011.

Nearly a decade later, she told Coveteur that she was drawn to the opportunity after they welcomed Satchel.

“I had a baby and was seeing the world through her eyes, and I realized that there weren’t enough children’s books out there that featured kids that looked like her, so I thought, ‘Why don’t I write these books?’ ” Tonya said in April 2019.

She has a Peabody Award

Through her production companies, Tonya has worked on several important projects, like the 2022 film Aftershock, which was recognized with a Peabody Award that same year. Co-directed with Paula Eiselt, the Hulu documentary takes a look at what happens when a woman dies from complications during childbirth.

“Often people hear about an issue like maternal mortality and morbidity, and they just see numbers,” she said during a December 2022 Deadline panel.

Speaking to Oprah Daily about the importance of the film, Tonya said, “Black maternal health is an issue for all women. It’s an issue for men, and extended families. Everyone is impacted when a woman dies — there’s a ripple effect. It is incumbent upon everybody to figure out what they can do.”

Her activism for the cause predates the documentary: Tonya was the spokesperson for “A Healthy Baby Begins With You” from 2007 through 2013, during which time she spoke on behalf of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services campaign to improve minority birth rates.

“Investing in a woman's health prior to conception is important because we are making an investment in the overall health of our communities,” she said in April 2009.

She founded a vitamin company

In September 2015, Tonya took her passion for health to the next level when she founded Movita Organics, which sells vitamin supplements for women.

“I’m the first person who will tell you that no one pill is going to do everything, but as part of a lifestyle of health and wellness, it can be helpful,” she explained to Coveteur in April 2019. “I think of it as a tool in a women’s arsenal to be as healthy as you can be, because it can give you your baseline nutrition.”

In February 2020, Tonya talked to Black Love about her health initiatives and emphasized the importance of conversation.

“One thing I have come to realize, when women come together specifically with the agenda of talking about health and wellness, it is a powerful thing," she said.

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