The 'Writing's on the Wall' hitmaker also apologizes to 'Milk' scribe Dance Lance Black who won an Academy Award in 2009.
- Mar 1, 2016
AceShowbiz - Despite his statement during the Academy Awards speech, Sam Smith is not the first openly gay Oscar winner. The British singer who won Best Original Song for "Spectre" soundtrack "Writing's on the Wall" has since taken to Twitter to defend himself.
"Second openly gay man to win an oscar or third or fourth or 100th, It wasn't my point. My point was to shine some light on the LGBT community who i love so dearly," the "Stay with Me" crooner tweeted after the show following the backlash over his claim.
Smith, however, sent an apology to openly gay director/screenwriter Dustin Lance Black who won an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay in 2009 for his movie "Milk". He wrote, "Apologies for the mix up @DLanceBlack I'll be sure to check out your films now x Belated Congrats on the Oscar x."
When collecting his Oscar, Smith said on stage, "I read an article a few months ago by Sir Ian McKellen, which said that no openly gay man had ever won an Oscar. If this is the case, even if it isn't the case, I want to dedicate this to the LGBT community all around the world."
McKellen quickly took to Twitter to clarify the singer as he wrote, "I'd said no openly gay actor had received #Oscars-that doesn't detract from @samsmithworld achievement. Congratulations to him & all others!"
Meanwhile, Black called out Smith in his tweet, "THE POINT: knowing our LGBTQ history is important. We stand on the shoulders of countless brave men and women who paved the way for us."
It's apparently not the only issue Black had with the singer. The filmmaker also blasted the Brit for allegedly being overly friendly with his fiance Tom Daley, "Hey @SamSmithWorld, if you have no idea who I am, it may be time to stop texting my fiance."
Smith didn't respond to Black's tweet about Daley. Instead, he posted a picture of his morning after the big night and claimed to "so hungover" but "genuinely feels like a dream." He also wrote, "I can't put into words how I feel other than... Hungover and Insanely happy x."
Despite getting no reply regarding his tweet about Smith texting his beau, Black was ready to bury the hatchet as he kindly wrote to the singer, "@samsmithworld Congratulations. Drink water. Rest. But do check out some of the other Gay Oscar work out there. Some truly wonderful stuff."
