For anyone who stayed awake for the last hour of the Oscars, there may have been a noticeable chill in the air. When screenwriter John Ridley picked up his Oscar for 12 Years A Slave, he thanked everyone but the film’s director, Steve McQueen. When McQueen spoke after the film’s Best Picture win, he didn’t mention Ridley. That has sparked reports that the two have been in a feud for months.
At the end of the Oscars, former Deadline writer Nikki Finke had tweeted that the two battled over screenwriting credit, with McQueen wanting to get a co-writing credit, notes The Huffington Post. Although Finke later deleted the tweet, TheWrap did a report that confirmed that there was a feud. Fox Searchlight sided with Ridley and McQueen didn’t say a word about it during the awards season.
However, it appeared that the feud was finally going public during the Oscars. Ridley didn’t mention McQueen and didn’t even give him a hug after leaving the stage. (He hugged American Hustle director David O. Russell.) McQueen also gave a half-hearted applause which has gone viral in .GIF form.
According to the New York Post, there were also reports that McQueen clashed with Ridley’s wife at the BAFTAs, but McQueen later apologized for the misunderstanding.
Ridley later told the Post at the Vanity Fair party that he did not intend to snub McQueen by not mentioning him Sunday night.
“Listen, without Steve McQueen I wouldn’t have this Oscar tonight,” he said. “I owe a lot to the genius of Steve McQueen, and I am forever grateful to have had the chance to work with him.”
Ridley added that he didn’t intend to leave him out of the speech. “I had less than two minutes to thank everybody, and I was so caught up in the emotion of the moment when I was onstage,” Ridley explained.
In addition to Ridley’s win for Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Picture, 12 Years A Slave won Best Supporting Actress for Lupita Nyong’o.
image courtesy of ABC/Rick Rowell