Sam Smith is making quite an impact on social media in the first couple of months of the new year. The singer-songwriter released their fourth studio album, Gloria, on January 27th. Smith has performed and released music videos for two popular songs on the album, “Unholy” and “I’m Not Here to Make Friends.” The videos and performances are causing a stir among conservatives, which has sadly resulted in Smith being the target of harassment online and on the street. 

The controversy surrounding Smith started a day after the release of their fourth album, when Smith shared the music video for their song, “I’m Not Here to Make Friends.” The video features Smith dancing in various alluring outfits, from an oversized fluffy hot-pink coat to a white corset with matching nipple pasties. The video caught the attention of conservatives and was labeled “disgusting” and “depraved.” Many people claim that the video is overly sexual and inappropriate for children. Candace Owens, a conservative commentator, shared her thoughts by making a video on Youtube. Owens said, “It should be thrown out. People should walk away from this. These people should not be allowed to perform on stage […] What it’s doing to people’s minds over time, trying to soften the idea of pornography.” Fans of Smith quickly came to their defense on Twitter. Users pointed out that the outfits and choreography in the video are no more experimental and sex-positive than those of other musicians. “I finally watched the Sam Smith video and was like ‘that’s it…’” tweeted @SoozUK. “Freddie Mercury, Brian May, Roger Taylor, and John Deacon were in joyful drag in the I Want To Break Free video almost 40 years ago. In the middle, Freddie is writhing with ballet dancers. Ya bunch of prudes.” During their appearance on The Graham Norton Show, Smith addressed the critics by saying, “nothing seedy went on, guys, it wasn’t weird.”

The controversy continued after Smith performed at the 65th Annual Grammy Awards on February 5th. Smith and Kim Petras performed their song “Unholy” at the ceremony. The performance featured Smith and Petras singing and dancing in red leather outfits. Smith was also wearing a red top hat with devil horns sticking out. Conservatives slammed the performance on Twitter, claiming that it promoted Satanism. Republican senator Ted Cruz retweeted a video of the performance and wrote, “This…is…evil.” A week later, Smith and Petras performed “Unholy” at the Brit Awards. Instead of wearing the same all-red outfits, the singers and backup dancers wore mechanic outfits to reference the “Body Shop” metaphor in their song’s lyrics. Still, the performance received complaints. Three days later, Ofcom, a U.K. broadcasting regulator, revealed that they received over 100 complaints about Smith and Petras. The backlash of these performances has unfortunately followed Smith into their daily life. A video posted on Twitter shows Smith getting harassed by a woman at the Central Park Zoo in New York. The woman calls them “demonic” and “evil” and even says that Smith “belongs in hell.” Smith ignores the woman and walks away. Smith has not commented on the criticism they have received after the performances.

Writer, Jillian Clark, posted an article about the four Maine-based Grammy winners last week in the SMCC Beacon. Here’s a link to the article.