CHAD LOWE - LOWE FELT FOR SWANK WHEN SHE FORGOT TO THANK HIM AT THE OSCARS

CHAD LOWE felt terrible for ex-wife HILARY SWANK when she forgot to mention him in her first Oscars acceptance speech - because he knew the media would make a big deal of the gaffe. Nervous Swank picked up an Oscar for her harrowing role as real-life gender bender BRANDON TEENA in BOYS DON'T CRY and overlooked thanking her then-husband, who was sitting right in front of her. Lowe, who split from Swank at the beginning of last year (06), says, "I didn't feel forgotten... If anything, I felt bad for her. "I mean you've got these song and dance numbers that nobody particularly cares about and then somebody works their life for this one moment and, you know, it's such a rare moment. And they give you 15, 20 seconds to say your piece."