Sam Smith quits Twitter following week of Oscars controversy
By Ben Kelly
Sam Smith has said he’s logging off Twitter after a hellish week of online criticism following his acceptance speech faux pas at the Oscars.
The 23-year-old, who performed at the ceremony in Los Angeles on Sunday night (Feb 27), also won the ‘Best Original Song’ prize for his Bond theme ‘Writing’s On The Wall’, but sparked an online backlash with his acceptance speech in which he suggested he might have been the first gay man to win an Oscar.
He was called out on Twitter by Oscar winner Dustin Lance Black, who also used to opportunity to tell Sam to “stop texting” his fiance, Tom Daley. Many other members of the LGBT community criticised Sam for not knowing his history. Dustin and Sam have since made up on Twitter, but the episode seems to have taken its toll on the singer.
Tweeting yesterday, Sam said: “I’m logging off for a while. Some Martinis shaken not stirred are definitely in order.”
He also shared this image of him with his Oscar, shot by Vanity Fair.
The Oscars wasn’t the first time Sam’s mouth has got him into trouble: Back in January, the Stay with Me singer was forced to apologise after a posting series of ill-advised, ‘white-splained’ tweets about racism, which he felt he personally should “shine some sort of light on.”
And he’s not the only gay star to quit Twitter this awards season: Stephen Fry bid adieu to the social media sire last month after his BAFTA comments about designer Jenny Beavan’s outfit sparked online criticism.
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