Denzel Washington Gets Surprise Honorary Palme d’Or at Cannes During Spike Lee’s ‘Highest 2 Lowest’ Premiere

Denzel Washington got a career-defining surprise at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival when he was awarded an Honorary Palme d’Or at the world premiere of his latest film, Spike Lee‘s “Highest 2 Lowest.” The two-time Oscar winner was already having a historic festival considering this is the first time Washington has attended Cannes in his 50-year acting career.

Directed by Spike Lee, “Highest 2 Lowest” is an English-language remake of Japanese director Akira Kurosawa’s 1963 film “High and Low.” Lee’s reimagining is set in modern day New York and stars Washington as a music mogul tied up in a life-or-death ransom plot. Superstar rapper A$AP Rocky appears as Yung Felon, an aspiring rapper who will stop at nothing to achieve his dream. Alongside Washington and Rocky, “Highest 2 Lowest” features Ilfenesh Hadera, Jeffrey Wright, Ice Spice (in her film debut), Dean Winters, John Douglas Thompson, LaChanze, Aubrey Joseph, Michael Potts and Wendell Pierce.

More to come…