The New York Film Critics Circle Awards ceremony Monday night got a little awkward when member and CityArts editor Armond White heckled director Steve McQueen while he was accepting an award.
The "12 Years a Slave" director had reportedly just stepped on stage to receive his Best Director award when White started yelling at him from the back of the audience. (Via YouTube / Film Society of Lincoln Center)
According to a writer for Variety who attended the event, White didn't hold back during his outburst, saying, "You’re an embarrassing doorman and garbage man." He also swore at the director.
Another critic who was sitting at White's table later tweeted that both White and his guest were "drunk and heckling" during the entire ceremony. (Via Twitter /@thehighsign)
But McQueen apparently pretended not to hear White's shouting and went on with his acceptance speech, thanking the critics group for choosing him for the award. (Via The Guardian)
Though "12 Years A Slave" has been one of the most praised films of the year and is considered an Oscar frontrunner, White has given it brutal reviews. He's notorious for going against the grain of what other critics think.
He wrote, "Depicting slavery as a horror show, McQueen has made the most unpleasant... movie since... 'The Exorcist.' That's right, '12 Years a Slave' belongs to the torture porn genre... but it is being sold (and mistaken) as part of the recent spate of movies that pretend 'a conversation about race.'" (Via New York Film Critics Circle)
And White's outburst at the 69th annual awards ceremony isn't exactly something new for him.
When he hosted the awards back in 2011, the film critic reportedly bashed actresses Annette Bening and Michelle Williams. And he apparently continued the trend by mocking Robert DeNiro and Viola Davis the next year. (Via Gawker)
White has yet to comment on the incident.
