Will Smith wasn’t the only person unhappy with Chris Rock’s sense of humor during Sunday’s Academy Awards ceremony.
Joseph Patel, an Indian-American filmmaker who co-produced the documentary “Summer of Soul (…Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised),” angrily criticized the comedian for referring to him as one of the “four white guys” who worked with Black co-producer Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson on the film.
What Happened: Variety reported on comments that Patel made on his Twitter (NYSE:TWTR) page where he berated the comedian for misidentifying him.
“The reason that makes me SO SO VERY ANGRY is because I was so proud to be one of a handful of South Asians to have ever won an Oscar in the history of the award,” Patel wrote. “I was ecstatic that I was the 3RD South Asian to win that night — after Riz [Ahmed] and Aneil Karia won earlier in the night for [best live action short winner] ‘The Long Goodbye.’ Three South Asians winning on the same night — that’s never happened before! And it’s meaningful! It’s history!”
Patel corrected Rock in noting he was one of three co-producers who collaborated with Thompson on the film; Robert Fyvolent and David Dinerstein were the other co-producers. But Patel took umbrage with Rock’s flippancy and said it spoiled what should have been a career highlight.
“I got back home to New York last night and saw the ceremony on my DVR and didn’t have the stomach to watch it,” Patel continued. “I probably never will. Thank you, Chris — You absolute f**king d**k.”
See Also: 10 Weirdest Academy Award Achievements Of All Time
What Else Happened: Patel later deleted his comments, tweeting, “We reached the unproductive portion of the viral Twitter thread so I've deleted it. I said what I needed to say and feel at peace with it. Some of y'all are weirdos.”
Patel seemed to have less problems being overlooked than being miscategorized. He retweeted a message from former First Lady Michelle Obama that praised “@Questlove and the team at @SummerOfSoul” — Obama’s tweet didn’t bother to mention the names of Patel and his White collaborators, although she said “Barack and I were so moved by this celebration of Black music, culture, and joy.”
“Summer of Soul” was a production of Searchlight Pictures, a division of the Walt Disney Co. (NYSE:DIS), which also owns ABC, the network that broadcast Sunday’s Oscars ceremony.
Photo: Joseph Patel, courtesy of the Internet Movie Database
