The Church of Satan has shared its commentary on Sam Smith and Kim Petras' controversial performance at the 2023 Grammy awards.
On Sunday Night, the singers, both 30, performed a live rendition of their song 'Unholy' - which charted at Number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in October.
During the performance, the stage was illuminated with red lighting, pyrotechnics, dancers performing in metal cages, and Smith was seen sporting a hat with devil horns.
Prior to the spectacle, music icon Madonna introduced the pair by saying: "Here’s what I’ve learned after four decades in music. If they call you shocking, scandalous, troublesome, problematic, provocative, or dangerous, you are definitely onto something," per The Independent.
Watch Smith and Petras' performance below:Soon after the award ceremony, many conservatives like the Texas senator Ted Cruz took to his social media pages to call out the 'Stay With Me' singer's performance.
On Twitter, Cruz retweeted quotes slamming Smith’s performance as "satanic," and added: "This is… evil," in response to commentator Liz Wheeler's post that read: "Don’t fight the culture wars, they say. Meanwhile, demons are teaching your kids to worship Satan. I could throw up."
Now, the Church of Satan magister, David Harris, has decided to weigh in on the discourse surrounding the stars in a new interview with TMZ.
Harris said that Smith and Petras' performance was "alright," "nothing particularly special" and stated that the red clothing, devil horns, and fire used emulate the devil is "kind of passe" now.
Whilst the politician's claims referred to The Satanic Temple - a different group - the Church Of Satan member added: "It's sad when politicians on a national stage use someone's religion as a punchline."
He also went on to describe the 52-year-old Republican, Congresswomen Marjorie Taylor Greene, and Lauren Boebert as "a bunch of delicate snowflakes".
Furthermore, the Church of Satan explained that Lil Nas X's controversial music video for 'Montero' - in which he was riding a stripper pole to Hell and giving a lap dance to Satan - was actually much bolder, in a satanic sense, than anything Smith and Petra did.
The Grammy backlash follows the recent criticism the 'I'm Not The Only One' musician faced after they dropped their new music video for their single, 'I'm Not Here to Make Friends', from their fourth album titled Gloria last week.
Smith's latest clip certainly drew anger from many as they were featured in various different outfits and exuded tremendous theatricality and confidence.
In one particular scene, we see them performing with a bunch of dancers donning only an underbust corset with dazzled underwear and a matching tiara, as well as nipple covers and platform heels.
Smith has since addressed the backlash and opened up about how the music video was created.
