Nick Vallengola deletes his Twitter account after receiving backlash over a tweet which sees him claiming to have witnessed Muslims in New Jersey celebrate the 9/11 attack.
- January 10, 2019
AceShowbiz - Just three days after winning a Golden Globe for best screenplay, "Green Book" writer Nick Vallengola has become the subject of controversy thanks to a resurfaced old tweet. Vallengola has been receiving massive backlash after he was caught supporting Donald Trump's anti-Muslim tweet, which saw him claiming to have witnessed thousands of Muslim in New Jersey celebrate the 9/11 attack, in 2015.
Responding to the controversial tweets, Vallengola noted that the then-businessman and TV personality was "100% correct." He elaborated, "Muslims in New Jersey City cheering when towers went down. I saw it, as you did, possibly on local CBS news."
The backlash was immediate, with "La La Land" producer Jordan Horowitz tweeting, "Nick Vallengola wrote Green Book. My industry just gave him a Golden Globe for writing. This remains on his timeline. Mahershala Ali is a Muslim, and a beautiful, generous and kind man. This is all just too disgusting." Actor Louis Peitzman similarly said, "Reminder that Mahershala Ali is Muslim and deserves so much better than this s**t."
Nick Vallelonga wrote Green Book. My industry just gave him a Golden Globe for writing. This remains on his timeline.
— Jordan Horowitz (@jehorowitz) January 10, 2019
Mahershala Ali is a Muslim, and a beautiful, generous and kind man.
This is all just too disgusting. pic.twitter.com/LYVbpFZFUL
Reminder that Mahershala Ali is Muslim and deserves so much better than this shit.
— Louis Peitzman (@LouisPeitzman) January 10, 2019
Vallengola has yet to respond to the controversy, though he deleted the tweet before deactivating his Twitter account.
This marks the latest in a string of controversies faced by "Green Book" following its win on the 2019 Golden Globe Awards. Recently, family members of Dr. Don Shirley, whom the movie is based on, spoke out against the flick, disputing its depiction of the events in the movie and stating that they had not been contacted during production or conception. In response to the claim, Vallengola insisted that Shirley himself had approved of the events he had included in the screenplay.
The movie's director, Peter Farrelly, also recently apologized after it was revealed that he used to displayed his penis as a joke in the past. "I was an idiot," he addressed the news. "I did this decades ago and I thought I was being funny and the truth is I'm embarrassed and it makes me cringe now. I'm deeply sorry."
