John Ridley Wins Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay

Posted on March 5, 2014

John Ridley won the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay for 12 Years a Slave at the 86th Academy Awards. The script was adapted from the memoir by Solomon Northup. Ridley is the second African-American to win the award.

In his acceptance speech, Ridley said, "All the praise goes to Solomon Northrup. Those were his words, that was his life." He also thanked the cast, the crew and Fox Searchlight. He said the film would not have happened without co-producer Jeremy Kleine.

There are rumors of a fued between Ridley and director Steve McQueen over the screenplay credits. Ridley did not thank McQueen in his acceptance speech, but he says he did not intentionally forget to mention the director. Ridley told the New York Post at Vanity Fair's after party, "I owe a lot to the genius of Steve McQueen, and I am forever grateful to have had the chance to work with him."