What is the news?
Singer Sam Smith’s latest music video is causing quite the stir, as the star unveils their raciest look yet – and sparks fierce debate on social media.
Sam, who is non-binary and uses they/them pronouns, dons a corset and nipple pasties for the OTT music video to their latest single, the Calvin Harris-produced I’m Not Here To Make Friends.
It’s the latest single from Sam’s fourth studio album Gloria, also home to the worldwide number one smash Kim Petras duet Unholy.
But Sam’s look in the new clip has seen the star gets attacked and trolled online – as others rushed to defend them, suggesting homophobia and fatphobia are to blame for those apparently so horrified by Sam’s revealing look.
Twitter is flooded with people defending Sam and his music while fighting against the homophobic approach and comments.
The LGBTQ+ writer Nick Levine also went to Twitter defending Sma’s new release Gloria. They shared a post saying, “Sam Smith is out there producing the most creative and authentic work of their career. If you're remotely offended by it, you should ask what that says about you, not about them as an artist and person.”
What exactly is the controversy?
In the new video for their new single “I’m Not Here To Make Friends,” Smith shows off their banging body and style in several revealing outfits, with sexy dancers hanging off of them. It’s a triumph of queer art.
Smith is first seen wearing a gorgeously oversized hot pink gown but has several costume changes throughout. They wear a crown, a corset, short shorts, and tights, and their dancers wear even less.
Later in the video, Smith, as well as plenty of their backup dancers of all genders, are wearing lingerie, including nipple pasties and bare butt cheeks. It’s a glorious celebration of Smith’s body and sexuality.
According to the Gay Times, critics of the video called it “pornography” and condemned YouTube for not including “age restrictions” on the “degrading sexualised new music video.”
But Smith is having none of that. In a tweet that seems to be responding to the backlash, Smith tweeted a picture of them in a gorgeous black gown, cape, and headdress from the video with the simple caption “Never too much.”
Daisy Jones of Vogue wrote an article with the title “If Sam Smith Were A Thin, Cis Woman, No One Would Have Given Their New Music Video A Second Thought” In the article she says, “I realized. People aren’t outraged because it’s sexualized. They’re outraged because it’s overtly queer and sexualized. People don’t know what to do with their discomfort – so they decide that the video itself must be the problem. They’re offended, they think, so the video must be offensive.” She has also talked about fatphobia.
Evening Standard of the UK said, “If Sam Smith’s nipple tassels offend you, maybe you’re the problem.”
Something about Sam Smith
He is an English singer and songwriter. Sam Smith is an openly gay British singer-songwriter and is most notable for his debut album In the Lonely Hour, which garnered 4 statues at the 2015 Grammy Awards. Sam Smith's hit songs include "Stay With Me," "I'm Not the Only One," and "Latch," a track Smith did with EDM group Disclosure.
When Sam released their debut album in May 2014 – the same month they publicly came out as gay – both their music and personal style were far more conservative.
Early press shots showed Smith looking Buble-esque in a standard uniform of dark suits, while their breakthrough songs were all lovelorn ballads like Lay Me Down and Stay With Me.
But in recent years, Smith’s music and style have both relaxed – more upbeat songs, and more flamboyant clothing.
Sam Smith talks about the backlash, homophobia, and more
Smith, whose song with Kim Petras "Unholy" hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100 a few months ago and whose album Gloria is out, sat down with Zane Lowe on Apple Music 1 for an interview that spanned topics from their music, the new album, being invited to the White House by President Biden, performing on Saturday Night Live, and going on tour. As reported by Billboard, Smith and Petras are the first publicly non-binary and transgender soloists, respectively, to top the Hot 100.
They also talked about what it's like being a visible nonbinary person in a country where transphobia has been running rampant. Smith said that while their personal life is much better than it ever was before they came out, the public reaction hasn't been as easy.
They even detailed some of the street harassment they've personally faced. Smith said that they can't even imagine how hard it must be on trans and nonbinary people who don't have their privilege.
In the interview, Smith also said that they wished they knew about nonbinary and trans identities when they were in school because they definitely would've identified that way when they were younger.
