Sam Smith Quits Twitter Over Oscars Drama With Dustin Lance Black
Sam Smith has opted to wave bye bye to Twitter after feeling the heat from social media users following his big Oscar win on February 28.
Smith took to Twitter to announce that he would be taking a break from social media for a while following his post-Oscar backlash, telling his more than four million followers on March 1, “I’m logging off for a while. Some Martinis shaken not stirred are definitely in order.”
Smith’s decision to take a break from social media comes after days of drama surrounding his Academy Awards win for Best Original Song for “Writings On The Wall,” his track from the most recent James Bond film, Spectre.
Sam Smith is "taking a break from Twitter" after Oscars row with Dustin Lance Black https://t.co/bvwVYruHOs pic.twitter.com/nE3aT17dUh
— BBC Newsbeat (@BBCNewsbeat) March 2, 2016
Sam causes quite a stir on the 140-character site when he incorrectly suggested in his Oscar acceptance speech that he was the first openly gay man to take home one of the prestigious movie awards.
“I read an article a few months ago by Sir Ian McKellen, and he said that no openly gay man had ever won an Oscar,” Smith said while accepting his first Oscar at the Los Angeles ceremony last week. “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.”
However, the first openly gay man to win an Oscar was actually Dustin Lance Black, who won an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for the film Milk back in 2009.
“Hey [Sam Smith], if you have no idea who I am, it may be time to stop texting my fiancé. Here’s a start,” Black tweeted to Sam following his speech alongside a video of himself accepting his own award seven years ago.
Dustin’s message to Sam has since been retweeted on the social media site more than 11,000 times since it was posted on February 29, causing Smith to issue an apology for what he described as a “hiccup” at the awards show.
“Second openly gay man to win an Oscar or third or fourth or 100th, It wasn’t my point,” Smith tweeted prior to his Twitter hiatus, “my point was to shine some light on the LGBT community who I love so dearly.”
Smith then apologized to Black, telling the 2009 Oscars winner “Apologies for the mix up @DLanceBlack I’ll be sure to check out your films now x Belated Congrats on the Oscar x.”
Black then responded to Smith with a message of his own, writing, “Congratulations. Drink water. Rest. But do check out some of the other Gay Oscar work out there. Some truly wonderful stuff.”
Sir Ian McKellen also confirmed that Sam had incorrectly recited his quote at the Oscars.
“I’d said no openly gay actor had received #Oscars-that doesn’t detract from [Sam Smith] achievement. Congratulations to him & all others!” he wrote on Twitter.
But despite Sam’s public apology to Dustin Lance Black, Smith’s Oscar mishap inspired the hashtag “#SamSmithFacts” in which Twitter users jokingly tweeted a slew of false facts about Smith.
Sam Smith says his #Oscars performance was the "worst moment" of his life: https://t.co/yqRxUNd3Hb pic.twitter.com/JlEJuoxgUL
— billboard (@billboard) March 2, 2016
“Sam Smith was the first openly gay man to drink a Capri-Sun. #SamSmithFacts” Twitter user @marcooth wrote on the 140-character site on February 29, while @DavidB1996 wrote, “Sam Smith invented economics after using Apple Pay at McDonalds #SamSmithFacts.”
“Sam Smith was the first openly gay man to parachute to safety out of a RyanAir flight to Dublin using only an umbrella,” @Neurosceptic continued as @paudieaudi joked, “Sam Smith was the first man to make unnecessary journeys and take risks on treacherous roads. #SamSmithFacts.”
Watch Sam Smith’s Oscar win below.
Are you surprised that Sam Smith has decided to take a break from Twitter?
[Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images]
