Dustin Lance Black apologises to Sam Smith for Oscars row at the Attitude Awards – WATCH
The pair kissed and made up at the Virgin Atlantic Attitude Awards 2019, powered by Jaguar in London on Wednesday night (9 October).
By Will Stroude
Dustin Lance Black and Sam Smith finally kissed and made up at the Virgin Atlantic Attitude Awards, powered by Jaguar in London on Wednesday (9 October).
Black, 45, used his appearance on stage – where he was presenting the Activism Award to those who fought in the Stonewall uprising – to apologise to Smith for some barbed and very public remarks he made after the Oscars in 2016.
The infamous incident saw Smith mistakenly claim he was the first gay man to win an Oscar while collecting his Academy Award for Best Original Song.
It led to Black, who had previously won the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay in 2008 for Harvey Milk biopic Milk, publicly telling Sam to “stop texting” his then-fiancé Tom Daley.
“If you have no idea who I am, it may be time to stop texting my fiancé,” Black wrote.
The public backlash to his Oscars speech led to Smith leaving Twitter for several months, but Black finally cleared the air and made a touching show of solidarity at the Attitude Awards on Wednesday.
“Sam, I am so sorry,” he said in front of the audience at London’s Roundhouse, on a night that celebrated the unity of the LGBTQ community.
“Sam, I am so sorry. Sometimes I get carried away, and you are a motherf**king blessing of a human being, so thank you.”@DLanceBlack apologises to @samsmith live on stage at the #AttitudeAwards for remarks he made after the Oscars in 2016. pic.twitter.com/gSyOSpc31S
— Attitude (@AttitudeMag) October 9, 2019
“Sometimes I get carried away, and you are a motherf**king blessing of a human being, so thank you.”
Sam graciously accepted Dustin’s apology later in the vening when he took to the stage to accept the Attitude Person of the Year Award, supported by Virgin Atlantic.
Before launching into their speech, Sam said: “Dustin, I just wanted to say you didn’t have to say sorry. But thank you so much.
Picking up the ‘Person of the Year’ award @SamSmith paid tribute to some incredible queer, trans and non-binary inspirations to them in an emotional speech #AttitudeAwards pic.twitter.com/bImRMRfjxr
— Attitude (@AttitudeMag) October 10, 2019
“The truth is I did f**k up my speech royally at the Oscars in front of 90 million people.
They then quipped: So, I have written down my speech tonight!”
Proving the exchange wasn’t just for show, the pair were later spotted backstage at the Attitude Awards laughing and sharing a hug.
The power of forgiveness, eh? Finally gay world was at peace…