Armond White is out. The freelance film writer has been expelled from the New York Film Critics after he made a jackass of himself last week at the annual dinner. White, who was drunk, became loud and obstreperous, yelling a bunch of nasty things at Harry Belafonte and then director Steve McQueen.
It’s an annual occurrence.
White always makes a scene, whether he’s speaking from the podium or sitting in his seat. I watched all this from my table with concern. White is like the crazy aunt who gets drunk at Christmas and starts yelling at her family. I don’t take it seriously. But this year he was particularly awful, especially since Belafonte had just given a beautiful speech. What can you do? He’s become too much of an embarrassment for the NYFCC.
It’s particularly sad because White is African American. He’s very smart. He represents diversity and a contrarian opinion. These things are always needed. But you can’t keep insulting the guests. They won’t come back! I wish he’d been suspended for one season, like Alex Rodriguez. But no one asked me.
The group did suspend NY Post critic Lou Lumenick for one year. He revealed voting totals in his column.
