Dustin Lance Black explains the ‘point’ of his shady Sam Smith comments
By Will Stroude
If you asked us what headlines were likely to be generated from the 2016 Academy Awards, we can’t say that the idea of Dustin Lance Black/Tom Daley/Sam Smith relationship drama would be one of them.
As the world continues to feel aftershocks from the colossal collective cringe that occurred this morning when Dustin publicly warned Sam to “stop texting” his fiancé, the Hollywood screenwriter has taken to Twitter once again to clarify “the point” of his remarks, which focussed on Smith’s mistaken belief that he had become the first openly gay man to win an Oscar last night (Feb 29).
Unimpressed at being so publicly erased from gay history, fellow Oscar winner Black – who won the ‘Best Original Screenplay’ screenplay award back in 2009 for Harvey Milk biopic Milk – publicly tweeted Sam a link to his own acceptance speech, which at the time he dedicated to LGBT youth.
Hey @SamSmithWorld, if you have no idea who I am, it may be time to stop texting my fiancé. Here’s a start: https://t.co/8hGTRtIaMK
— Dustin Lance Black (@DLanceBlack) February 29, 2016
Black’s retort quickly polarised followers, with some praising his decision to highlight Smith’s apparent ignorance of gay history, and others denouncing him as “super tacky” and “egotistical” for making his comments so personal.
The 41-year-old has since taken to Twitter again to reiterate “the point” of his tweet, saying that knowing LGBTQ history is “important”, and credit should be given to those that have gone before.
“We stand on the shoulders of countless brave men and women who paved the way for us,” he added.
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.
— Dustin Lance Black (@DLanceBlack) February 29, 2016
While Dustin’s passion for historical accuracy is obviously laudable, we’re still at a bit of a loss as to why he required such a pointed reference to the contents of his fiancé’s phonebook to get there. Sam and Tom are yet to respond to pubcliy respond to the message, but in the meantime if you need us, we’ll be firing up the popcorn machine.
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