Following a wave of criticism after the release of their new music video, Sam Smith has now addressed the issue in a new interview.
On Friday, the 30-year-old dropped their new music video for 'I'm Not Here to Make Friends' as part of their fourth studio album titled Gloria, and let's just say the four-minute clip left some people speechless.
The video features Smith in various different outfits, including a black split-leg gown and matching headpiece, exuding immense theatricality and confidence.
In one particular scene, we see them performing with a bunch of scantily-clad dancers wearing only an underbust corset with bedazzled underwear and a matching tiara, as well as nipple covers and platform heels.
Watch the full music video below:While many viewers were loving seeing Sam embracing their body and sexiness, others felt that the rampant sexual innuendos should have come with an age restriction to prevent children from seeing bodies gyrating on one another and suggestive squirts of water.
One commented: "Sam Smith is a fantastic vocalist, but this video has gone to far, I have an 11 year old granddaughter who likes Sam Smith and if she searched YouTube for him she would be subjected to this vulgarity, this should not be accessible to children."
However, others jumped to Smith's defense, stating that opinions would be different if the artist in question were straight, cis-gendered rather than non-binary, and thin.
"Sex has always been a running theme in modern pop music, and music videos often flaunt it. But Sam Smith has made the criminal offence of being a) queer and b) not skinny, and in an increasingly anti-LGBTQ culture, that can’t be tolerated," wrote Guardian columnist, Owen Jones. "To be honest, the Sam Smith video is pretty f****** tame and if you’re shocked by it, you are deeply, deeply sad."
While the debate continues, the artist himself has now spoken out on the topic stating the inspiration behind the visuals was actually their love life.
Speaking on The Graham Norton Show, Smith revealed that the inspiration for the track came from a date: "I went on a date with this guy and he just... People friend-zone me a lot on dates."
They continued: "And the next day I went into the studio and I was, like, I’m sick of, like, I’ve got enough friends. I don’t need any more friends."
They then went on to talk about the making of the raunchy video, adding: "Basically it’s set in a castle. It’s like Henry VIII’s castle," before quickly adding: "Nothing seedy went on, guys. It wasn’t weird."
However, the singer did disclose the fact that the castle was still open to outside visitors while they were filming.
"Yeah, they had Christmas parties [going on]. They were working around us. They had no idea what was going on in the rooms," they said.
The 30-year-old also joked that "weirder things had happened in that castle."
Castles seem to be the hub for that type of content, it seems.
Since it was released, 'I'm Not Here to Make Friends' has been viewed 1.7 million times and the numbers continue to rise as more and more people get involved in the debate to convince YouTube to put an age restriction on it.
