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This Anger Could Cost Him The Oscar

Russell Crowe angered by speech cut

Actor Russell Crowe lost his temper with a television executive after his acceptance speech at the British Academy Film Awards was edited out of a delayed transmission, officials said Tuesday.

Crowe, 37, won best actor award for his role as a schizophrenic scientist in “A Beautiful Mind,” and during his speech read a poem called “Sanctity,” by the late Irish poet Patrick Kavanagh.

Crowe was unavailable for comment about reports of his outburst. When television company Initial Productions edited out the poem for the British Broadcasting Corp.’s one-hour delayed telecast of the Baftas, Crowe was abusive to the show’s director Malcolm Gerrie, the company said.

An Initial Productions spokesman, speaking on condition of anonymity, said people were told three times that they must keep their speeches to a minimum because of time constraints. The spokesman said Crowe was not the only winner who was edited because his speech went long, and he noted that Crowe’s speech is uncut in the international versions.

The decision to edit Crowe’s speech was made in collaboration with the BBC, the spokesman said.
The Sun newspaper reported Tuesday that Crowe swore at Gerrie, 51, at the postawards dinner and pushed him against a wall.

Asked about the reports, a London-based spokeswoman for DreamWorks, one of the studios behind “A Beautiful Mind” had no comment.

The British Academy of Film and Television Arts is Britain’s leading organization for film, television, and interactive entertainment.