Ken Taylor pleased Affleck thanked Canada in Oscars speech

Ken Taylor, the former Canadian ambassador to Iran, was glad to hear Ben Affleck acknowledge Canada in his Oscar acceptance speech for Best Picture.

Affleck, who directed and starred in Argo, came under criticism from Taylor about his portrayal of Canada’s role in managing to extract American diplomats from Iran after the U.S. Embassy came under attack.

“I want to thank Canada, I want to thank our friends in Iran living in terrible circumstances right now,” Affleck said, according to the Leader Post .

Taylor recognized and accepted this quick thanks.

“Finally, he mentioned Canada," Taylor said, according to the Associated Press. "Under the circumstances, I think that was fine. It certainly acknowledged Canada.”

While accepting his Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay, writer Chris Terrio perfusely thanked Tony Mendez (Affleck’s character) and Canada, Taylor, and John Sheardown, who originally fielded the distress call from the American diplomats.

“And so I want to dedicate this to him [Mendez] and the Taylors and the Sheardowns and people all over the world in the U.S., in Canada, in Iran, who use creativity and intelligence to solve problems non-violently,” Terrio said, according to the Associated Press.

After revising postscripts to further acknowledge Canada’s involvement and now thanking them during Hollywood’s most prestigious awards, hopefully this controversy between the Argo film makers and Canada will be put to rest.