12 years a Slave screenwriter John Ridley, right, exclusively tells Page Six that omitting the name of director Steve McQueen during his acceptance speech wasn’t intentional.
From NY Post’s Page Six:
“Listen, without Steve McQueen I wouldn’t have this Oscar tonight,” Ridley said at Vanity Fair’s party after winning for Best Adapted Screenplay. “I owe a lot to the genius of Steve McQueen, and I am forever grateful to have had the chance to work with him.”
Asked if omitting McQueen’s name onstage was intentional, Ridley told us, “Of course not. 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 sparked speculation when he failed to mention McQueen, and Hollywood blogs reported on a disagreement over the screenplay’s credit.
Rumors of a rift burbled at London’s BAFTAs last month, where, sources told us, McQueen exploded at Ridley at a party.
But sources close to McQueen said it was a misunderstanding between McQueen and Ridley’s wife — that when the director arrived to a private dinner at the Edition Hotel and noticed some friends weren’t there, he exclaimed, “Where the f?-?-?k is everyone? No one is here!”
“Ridley’s wife thought Steve was talking to her, she was upset,” said a source, adding McQueen later called to apologize.
McQueen has struggled to contain rumors that he is gay.
