Sam Smith Fires Back At Dustin Lance Black Over Oscars Diss


Sam Smith is firing back after screenwriter Dustin Lance Black slammed him for incorrectly suggesting he was the first openly gay man to win an Oscar.

Smith took to Twitter to respond to Black’s initial tweet on February 29 after Dustin’s message that he was actually the first homosexual man to win an Oscar went viral following Smith’s Academy Awards acceptance speech.

“Second openly gay man to win an Oscar or third or fourth or 100th, It wasn’t my point,” Smith wrote on Twitter on February 29 following his Academy Award win for Best Original Song for his James Bond Spectre hit “Writing on the Wall,” adding, “my point was to shine some light on the LGBT community who I love so dearly.”

Smith then explicitly mentioned Dustin Lance Black, tweeting to the Oscar winner “Apologies for the mix up @DLanceBlack I’ll be sure to check out your films now x Belated Congrats on the Oscar x”

Smith and Black then appeared to have officially buried the hatchet after Dustin congratulated the singer on his big win.

“Congratulations. Drink water. Rest. But do check out some of the other Gay Oscar work out there. Some truly wonderful stuff,” Lance replied, to which Smith noted that he thought Dustin’s film Milk was a “masterpiece.”

But while it looks like all is well between the two now, the drama first began when Black took to social media following Sam Smith’s Oscar win, slamming him for suggesting he was the first gay man to win an Oscar.

“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… 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,” Smith said at the 88th Annual Academy Awards.

Black then tweeted, “Hey [Sam Smith], if you have no idea who I am… Here’s a start,” alongside a video of himself accepting his Oscar in 2009 for Best Original Screenplay for the film Milk.

Black also scathingly tweeted to Sam that “it may be time to stop texting my fiancé” – Dustin is engaged to British Olympic swimmer Tom Daly – though Sam Smith noticeably did not acknowledge that claim in his apology tweet.

However, Dustin appeared to clear up the texting drama on Twitter prior to Sam’s social media message, where he seemed to clarify that any texts between Smith and Daly were purely platonic while suggesting that Smith needs to be better informed.

“THE POINT: knowing our LGBTQ history is important,” Black tweeted on February 29, though he never actually tagged Sam in the post. “We stand on the shoulders of countless brave men and women who paved the way for us.”

Black then followed up his initial tweet with a clarification of his Tom Daly texting claim, writing, “Dear Internet: [Tom Daly] and [Sam Smith] are pals. They text. Thus my surprise Sam took me for a closet case! Feel free to laugh.”

“Well this has proven to be a lively day on Twitter. From humor to anger,” Dustin continued on the site. “The former my intent… in defense of history. Much love to all.”

Sir Ian McKellen also used social media to clarify his own remarks following Sam’s Oscars mishap, where he revealed that Sam incorrectly recited his quote in his Oscars speech.

“I’d said no openly gay actor had received #Oscars – that doesn’t detract from [Sam Smith’s] achievement,” McKellen tweeted on February 29. “Congratulations to him & all others!”

Smith then thanked the actor on Twitter, describing himself a “huge fan” of Sir Ian’s and describing his Oscars snafu as a “hiccup.”

What do you think of Sam Smith and Dustin Lance Black’s recent Oscars Twitter drama?

[Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images]

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