Sam Smith is taking time off from Twitter. The decision comes days after receiving backlash from his Oscars acceptance speech for Best Original Song.
“I’m logging off for a while,” the singer tweeted Tuesday. “Some Martinis shaken not stirred are definitely in order.”
The singer took heat after suggesting he was the first openly gay man to win an Oscar.
“I read an article a few months ago by Ian McKellen, and he said that no openly gay man had ever won an Oscar. And if this is the case, even if it isn’t the case, I want to dedicate this to the LGBT community all around the world,” Smith said during his acceptance speech.
McKellen actually expressed to the Guardian back in January that no openly gay man has ever won the Best Actor Oscar category. Backstage, Smith got called out for not knowing about past gay winners, including Dustin Lance Black, who won in 2009 for his screenplay for Milk, Bill Condon, Alan Ball, Stephen Sondheim, and Elton John.
Instead Smith joked by saying, “I think I’m the second openly gay person to win it.” But what made matters worse was when a reporter pointed out Disney lyricist Howard Ashman, who won in the Best Original Song category twice for his work on The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast.
Smith replied: “I should know him. We should date.” Ashman died from AIDS-related complications in 1991. Beauty and the Beast is dedicated to his memory.
