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Dustin Lance Black claims Sam Smith Oscars comment was a joke

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Gemma Strong
Online Digital News Director
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Dustin Lance Black has taken to Twitter to clear up speculation about a message he sent to Sam Smith following his Oscars win. Dustin appeared to take exception to Sam's acceptance speech – during which he mistakenly claimed he was the first openly gay man to win an Oscar – and went on social media to set the record straight. "Hey @samsmithworld, if you have no idea who I am, it might be time to stop texting my fiancé," wrote the 41-year-old, who is engaged to Tom Daley. "Here's a start," he then wrote, linking to the acceptance speech he gave in 2008 when he won an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay for Milk.

dustin tom © Photo: Getty Images

Dustin Lance Black has taken to Twitter to clear up his messages to Sam Smith

Sam, for his part, was apologetic when he woke up on Monday to the Twitter storm that had erupted over his comments. "So hungover. Genuinely feels like a dream," Sam wrote. "Second openly gay man to win an Oscar or third or fourth or 100th, it wasn't my point."My point was to shine some light on the LGBT community who I love dearly… Apologies for the mix-up @DLanceBlack I’ll be sure to check out your films now x Belated congrats on the Oscar."

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Sam Smith accepting his Oscar, alongside composer Jimmy Napes

Dustin returned to Twitter shortly afterwards. "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," he wrote.

The exchange caused a bit of a stir amongst fans on Twitter – prompting Dustin to clarify his comments.

View post on Twitter

"Well this has proven to be a lively day on Twitter," he wrote. "From humour to anger. The former my intent… in defense of history. Much love to all."

View post on Twitter

Then, dismissing any further misunderstandings, he added: "Dear Internet@ @TomDaley1994 and @samsmithworld are pals. They text. Thus my surprise Sam took me for a closet case! Feel free to laugh."