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AWARD ABUSE: Steve McQueen at the New York Critics Circle event (PA)

BRITISH DIRECTOR Steve McQueen was on the end of a bizarre tirade from an American film critic as he prepared to receive an accolade at an awards show in New York.

McQueen, who has garnered critical acclaim for his movie 12 Years A Slave featuring Chiwetel Ejiofor and Michael Fassbender, was subjected to the outburst at the New York Critics Circle awards last night (Jan 6).

Black US film critic Armond White, who edits publication CityArts, was in the audience when he heckled the film-maker.

When McQueen went to the stage to accept the event’s best director gong, White shouted: “You're an embarrassing doorman and garbage man. F**k you. Kiss my ass.”

The director did not respond to the insults.

Online commentators and social media users have been fascinated by the incident, with some calling it “black-on-black hate”.

It is apparent that White is no fan of McQueen’s latest film, which has been tipped to win big at the Oscars.

Writing his review of 12 Years A Slave in October, the critic said: “Depicting slavery as a horror show, McQueen has made the most unpleasant American movie since William Friedkin's 1973 The Exorcist.

“That's right, 12 Years A Slave belongs to the torture porn genre with Hostel, The Human Centipede and the Saw franchise but it is being sold (and mistaken) as part of the recent spate of movies that pretend 'a conversation about race'. The only conversation this film inspires would contain howls of discomfort.”

McQueen’s film portrays the true story of born-free Solomon Northup, who was kidnapped and sold into slavery.

The movie is based on Northup’s account from his memoirs written after he regained his freedom.