Oscar-Winning Screenwriter Dustin Lance Black Suffered ‘Serious’ Head Injury Last Month: ‘I Vanished for a While’

Dustin Lance Black, Oscar winner of best original screenplay for 2008’s “Milk,” revealed that he suffered a “serious head injury” last month, saying that the injury is the reason why he “vanished for a while.”

“A month ago I sustained a serious head injury that put me out of commission,” Black wrote in an Instagram post. “Showing little improvement, my doctors ordered me to shut off my brain in hopes of it healing.”

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Black announced the news Monday on Instagram, but did not mention any specifics about what caused the head injury. The Instagram post features a series of photos of Black and his husband Tom Daley in Greece. “But this week my sweet, over the top husband took us to the Greek Islands to make me shut off. I can already feel this trip is a step in the right direction, and I finally feel safe sharing a bit again,” he continued in his post.

Black is the creator of FX’s recently released limited series “Under the Banner of Heaven” starring Andrew Garfield. Along with “Milk,” he also wrote the screenplay for the 2011 film “J. Edgar.”

“This has been a challenging, frightening time for a creative type who depends on what’s in his skull to work, care and love. And now I understand the road back will be long,” he wrote.

HBO’s “Mama’s Boy,” a documentary adapted from Black’s 2019 memoir about his life, is set to open New York’s LGBTQ+ film festival NewFest Oct. 13. Black also wrote and produced the George C. Wolfe-directed drama film “Rustin,” expected in 2023.

He ended the post with, “More to come. Promise.”

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