Unlike Stacey Dash, Sam Smith did not randomly wander on to the stage at the 2016 Oscars and make a complete fool out of himself for no comprehensible reason.
But that doesn’t mean the talented singer wasn’t at the center of his own controversy on Sunday night.
Upon accepting the trophy for Best Original Song, Smith accepted the award by saying the following to a national audience:
“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.”
Pretty harmless, right?
Smith even made a point of recognizing that he might not have his facts correct, but the overall dedication – the crux of his message – remained.
But this wasn’t good enough for Dustin Lance Black or a number of people on the Internet.
See… McKellen was actually referring to the acting categories only when making this statement to The Guardian in January.
Melissa Etheridge, an open lesbian, actually won the same award as Smith in 2007; while Elton John, Stephen Sondheim and Scott Rudin are among other past winners who were also openly gay at the time they were victorious.
So was Black when he won Best Original Screenplay for Milk in 2009.
And he was not about to let Smith forget it!
“Hey @SamSmithWorld, if you have no idea who I am, it may be time to stop texting my fiancé,” Black Tweeted last night, referring to Olympic diver Tom Daley.
The insecure Black then linked to a video of his acceptance speech from the 81st Annual Academy Awards and added:
“Here’s a start.”
Later informed about his snafu, Smith told reporters backstage that he was a “little drunk” and added “Sh-t. F-ck that” in regard to his mistake.
We think he should be forgiven.
Especially because it prompted this Tweet from Clay Aiken:
“Congrats to Sam Smith for being the first openly gay man to inaccurately claim he is the first openly gay man to win at the #Oscars.”
