I asked a fellow I work with this question (who is both an experienced pilot and a former controller) and his **initial** thought was the same as the guy you flew with (if the controller did not restate it then it does not apply), but cautioned that he wouldn't bet his life on it
In any case - he said he was going to do some research on it and see if he could find my a reference/answer. I'll pass it along if he follows through. Until then - we have an awful lot of experience in both respects here on the forum and I will bet there will be a good discussion born of this question. Thanks for bringing it up!

USMCFLYR