Lee Daniels finally broke his silence on The Butler 's notorious Oscars snub, and the A-list director kept it classy with his comments. Speaking to TMZ at LAX, Daniels says it's the media that starts the Oscar hype, not the artists who make the films.

"We don't do it for awards, we do it for the art," Daniels reiterates. TMZ's cameraman gives the director props for the film, telling him his family loved it and the audience he saw it with gave the film a standing ovation.

Daniels, looking visibly touched, tells him, "that's my award."

Awards or not, no one can take away The Butler 's amazing box office run and universal critical raves. It was one of the few awards contenders this year that resonated with both critics and audiences. While The Butler didn't earn any Golden Globes or Oscar nominations, Oprah Winfrey was in contention for a Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Supporting Actress (the honor ultimately went to 12 Years a Slave 's Lupita Nyong'o ) and is up for eight NAACP Image Awards.

Daniels himself is now part of the elite $100 million directors club, with the historical epic grossing $160 million worldwide against a budget of just $30 million. Not a bad consolation prize.