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Dustin Lance Black Apologized to Sam Smith Live On Stage

Dustin Lance Black Apologized to Sam Smith Live On Stage

Dustin Lance Black Apologized to Sam Smith Live On Stage

The writer had publicly called Smith out over their 2016 Oscar acceptance speech.

One of the messiest public queer beefs of our generation has finally been resolved. At Wednesday's Attitude Awards, writer Dustin Lance Black and Sam Smith finally made peace.

For anyone who doesn't remember, Black took issue with Smith calling themselves the first openly gay man to win an Oscar (at the time, Smith hadn't yet publicly identified as nonbinary or used they/them pronouns) for Spectre Bond theme "Writing's On the Wall" in 2016. "I read an article a few months ago by Sir Ian McKellen and he said no openly gay man had won an Oscar," Smith said in their acceptance speech. "If this is the case, I want to dedicate this to the [LGBTQ+] community around the world."

Black, who had won an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay in 2008 for Milk, wasn't happy about his historic win being erased by Smith. "If you have no idea who I am, it may be time to stop texting my fiance," Black said publicly at the time.

But at the annual Virgin Atlantic Attitude Awards, Black used his time on stage to apologize to Smith. "Sam, I am so sorry," he said. "Sometimes I get carried away, and you are a motherfucking blessing of a human being, so thank you."

Smith, who was being honored as Attitude's Person of the Year, started off their own speech by acknowledging Black's apology. "Dustin, I just wanted to say you didn't have to say sorry," they said. "But thank you so much. The truth is I did fuck up my speech royally at the Oscars in front of 90 million people. So, I have written down my speech tonight." Smith went on to thank the many people who have inspired their exploration of their nonbinary identity.

The pair were later spotted hugging backstage. This is like Katy and Taylor all over again!

RELATED | Adam Lambert Applauds Sam Smith for Coming Out as Nonbinary

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