Sam Smith Quits Twitter Following Oscars Speech Backlash And Dustin Lance Black Row

Sam Smith Quits Twitter Following Oscars Speech Backlash
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Sam Smith has quit Twitter following the backlash he received for his Oscars acceptance speech.

The star was at the receiving end of criticism after he claimed he was the first openly gay man to win an Academy Award, when he received the gong for Best Original Song for his Bond theme, ‘The Writing’s On The Wall’.

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Sam Smith

However, one such previous winner Dustin Lance Black, was quick to point out his error on Twitter, and also claimed that Sam had been texting his fiancé Tom Daley.

While the pair publicly sorted out their differences on the social networking site, Sam has told fans he is now taking a break from it.

He told his four million followers: “I'm logging off for a while. Some Martinis shaken not stirred are definitely in order.”

Sam previously claimed he was sorry for not brushing up on his Oscars knowledge before making his speech, following the backlash.

He tweeted: “Second openly gay man to win an oscar or third or fourth or 100th, It wasn't my point,” he wrote.

“My point was to shine some light on the LGBT community who i love so dearly.

“Apologies for the mix up @DLanceBlack I'll be sure to check out your films now x Belated Congrats on the Oscar x.”

Dustin later cleared up why he made the comments about Tom, writing: “Dear Internet: @TomDaley1994 and @samsmithworld are pals. They text. Thus my surprise Sam took me for a closet case! Feel free to laugh.”

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Dustin Lance Black (right) and fiancé Tom Daley

Dustin is just one of many openly gay men to win an Oscar, with others Alan Ball who won for ‘American Beauty’, Elton John who won for the soundtrack to ‘The Lion King’.

Sam’s comments were based upon an interview he had read with Sir Ian McKellen, who stated that an openly gay man had never won an Oscar for Best Actor, which Sam misinterpreted.

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Sam Smith's Biggest Achievements
Sam Smith's biggest achievements (01 of18)
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Taking home three Brit Awards for Critics Choice in 2014 and British Breakthrough Act and Global Success in 2015. (credit:David M. Benett via Getty Images)
Sam Smith's biggest achievements (02 of18)
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Won four Grammys in 2015 including Best New Artist, "Stay with Me" for Record of the Year and Song of the Year, and In the Lonely Hour for Best Pop Vocal Album. (credit:Jason LaVeris via Getty Images)
Sam Smith's biggest achievements (03 of18)
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Topped the 2014 BBC Sound Of poll, beating off competition from Ella Eyre and George Ezra. (credit:Michael Tran via Getty Images)
Sam Smith's biggest achievements (04 of18)
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Performed a duet of ‘Stay With Me’ with Mary J. Blige. (credit:Kevin Winter via Getty Images)
Sam Smith's biggest achievements (05 of18)
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Recorded a version of ‘Lay Me Down’ with John Legend, which went on to top the charts. (credit:Comic Relief/AP)
Sam Smith's biggest achievements (06 of18)
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Amassed an army of celebrity fans including Beyonce, Kim Kardashian, Lady Gaga and Miley Cyrus. (credit:Instagram)
Sam Smith's biggest achievements (07 of18)
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Sold out New York’s Madison Square Garden. (credit:Rob Loud via Getty Images)
Sam Smith's biggest achievements (08 of18)
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Transformed his relationship with food to become just four pounds away from his goal weight. (credit:Instagram)
Sam Smith's biggest achievements (09 of18)
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Scored the fastest selling album of 2014. (credit:David M. Benett via Getty Images)
Sam Smith's biggest achievements (10 of18)
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Became the only artist to sell 1 million albums in UK and US in 2014. (credit:SAV via Getty Images)
Sam Smith's biggest achievements (11 of18)
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Gained 2.85 million followers on Twitter and 3.8 million Instagram fans. (credit:Simon James via Getty Images)
Sam Smith's biggest achievements (12 of18)
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Set a US sales record after debut album, ‘In the Lonely Hour’, the most sold in the first week by a UK male artist's debut album, shifting 166,000 copies. (credit:Gareth Cattermole via Getty Images)
Sam Smith's biggest achievements (13 of18)
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Received the honour of being invited to perform at the Grammys. (credit:Jon Kopaloff via Getty Images)
Sam Smith's biggest achievements (14 of18)
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His album ‘In The Lonely Hour’ became the second best-selling on 2014, just behind Ed Sheeran’s ‘X’. (credit:Christopher Polk via Getty Images)
Sam Smith's biggest achievements (15 of18)
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Performed on a sell-out tour in spring 2014, before announcing a world arena tour for this year. (credit:Sven Hoppe/DPA)
Sam Smith's biggest achievements (16 of18)
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Picked up two Ivor Novello nominations. (credit:Yui Mok/PA Wire)
Sam Smith's biggest achievements (17 of18)
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Won three Billboard Music Awards for Top New Artist, Top Male Artist and Top Radio Songs Artist in 2015. (credit:Lionel Hahn/ABACA USA)
Sam Smith's biggest achievements (18 of18)
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Got into his first Twitter spat after wading into the Louis Tomlinson/Naughty Boy row. (credit:Daniel DeSlover/Zuma Press)