Steve McQueen, the director of “12 Years a Slave,” said he was unruffled after he was bizarrely heckled at the New York Film Critics Circle Awards by one of the organization’s own members.
As McQueen emotionally accepted a best director award from presenter Harry Belafonte Monday night, critic Armond White was heard yelling obscenities from the back of the Edison Ballroom.
But McQueen, who was nominated Tuesday for a Directors Guild of America Award, seen as a reliable Oscar predictor, told us, “I didn’t hear what he said.”
A source Tuesday night confirmed to Page Six that the embarrassed NYFCC has since given an unreserved apology to McQueen and his studio Fox Searchlight, and indicated it would look into disciplining White.
NYFCC chairman Joshua Rothkopf said, “I can’t believe we need to draft rules of conduct for adults, but apparently we do.”
Meanwhile, McQueen was winning more plaudits on Tuesday at a Peggy Siegal luncheon co-hosted by Lorraine Bracco, Glenn Close and Cosmopolitan Editor-in-Chief Joanna Coles.
Close told us, “I had to come out to support this movie, it is so powerful. And it is wonderful but sadly still rare to see directors creating strong roles for African-American actresses.”
The luncheon event celebrated the performances of Lupita Nyong’o, Adeparo Oduye and Sarah Paulson in “12 Years a Slave,” which is nominated for seven Golden Globe Awards including best picture.
Bracco said, “When you make a role like you have made . . . you have poured your entire being into what you have gathered and it will stay in your heart and stay in your soul forever.”