Video has emerged showing Sam Smith being told he belongs in “hell” and is a “demonic, twisted, sick *” following his ‘Unholy’ Grammy awards performance with Kim Petras.
The singer’s performance was branded “literally a tribute to satan” by some critics on social media. US Senator Ted Cruz called it “evil” and fellow politician Jack Lombardi II agreed, writing: “The greatest act the Devil ever pulled was to convince the world he doesn’t exist – and now he hides in plain sight.”
The outrage caused the Church of Satan to issue a comment, but they watered down the controversy, saying what Smith and Petras had done was “nothing particularly special,” especially because the Satanic imagery was “kind of passé” now.
Smith and Petras won Best Pop Duo for the performance in a historic moment for the LGBTQ+ community at the Grammys. Petras became the first trans woman to win the award.
On Wednesday, footage began circulating on social media showing Smith getting harassed on the streets of New York by a woman, whose outrage the star appeared to be filming on their own phone.
In the footage, which was filmed by an onlooker, Smith was wearing navy blue jeans and a blazer, and can be seen pointing their phone at where the abuse is coming from.
The woman yells: “You belong in hell!”
Then: “Sam Smith belongs in hell. You demonic, twisted, sick b*d,” while the ‘Lay Me Down’ musician walked past, before putting their phone down. They did not respond.
The woman went on to say: “Leave the kids alone, you sick f***er,” before adding once again: “You’re evil”, amongst other obscenities.
One person wrote under the clip: “If anyone is demonic I’m going with that husky-throated thing yelling.”
Another commenter lamented: “People are really just too comfortable being hateful.”
A third wrote: “Now be so serious. No one deserves this kind of treatment no matter how much u dislike them.”
Another said: “People are really just too comfortable being hateful.”
Smith and Petras’s performance did, however, divide opinion, with CBS reportedly 18 complaints CBS.
Daily Mail revealed that the network has been fined hundreds of thousands of dollars following the airing of “obscene material,” and according to FCC, it’s a breach of federal law to air obscene programming at any time, as well as a violation of federal law to promote inappropriate or indecent programming during particular hours.
Complaints were also made about Smith’s BRIT awards performance.
A spokesperson for Ofcom told the Mail: “We received 106 complaints about The BRIT Awards on ITV1 on 11 February.
“The majority of complaints related to Sam Smith’s performance, with the remainder about the use of offensive language and consumption of alcohol.”
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