In the case of Sam Smith's 2016 Oscar acceptance speech for "Writing's on the Wall," Smith, himself, admits it was a swing and a miss.

As part of his prize for Best Original Song, Smith suggested that he was the first openly gay man to win the trophy (he wasn't), drawing ire from the likes of Dustin Lance Black — an openly gay man who had previously won — and others. Now, Smith admits it was a mistake, and told NME he's trying to learn from his error.

"I actually meant to say Best Male Actor and I didn’t. I obviously did know that I wasn’t the first gay person to win an Oscar," Smith said. "I was gutted – there was 90 million people watching that show; I wanted to say something positive and I f----- up.

Smith added that the event chipped away at his conviction, but said he's serious about righting his wrongs.

“When I mucked that up, I lost a lot of confidence," he noted. "I can’t express enough — it really upset me. It made me realize that what I say can be damaging.”

Further, Smith said analyzing the incident has inspired him to be even more forthright about the politics of sexuality.
"I want to make people feel uncomfortable," he said. "We should be addressing these issues. There are not enough openly gay men or women in the music industry – any industry."
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