Sam Smith was heckled in the streets of New York by an outraged woman due to their controversial performance at the 2023 Grammy awards with Kim Petras.
As previously reported, the singers, both 30, performed a live rendition of their song 'Unholy' - which charted at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in October - at the 65th award ceremony.
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.
The pair - who won the award for Best Pop Duo - was then slammed by viewers as CBS and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) received 18 complaints about the spectacle.
Watch Smith and Petras' performance below:After the show, many conservatives like US senator Ted Cruz took to their social media pages to voice their displeasure with the 'Stay With Me' singer's performance.
The 52-year-old Republican wrote: "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."
Fellow politician Jack Lombardi II agreed, adding underneath: "The greatest act the Devil ever pulled was to convince the world he doesn't exist - and now he hides in plain sight."
Despite all the discourse claiming Smith was part of the Illuminati and accusations of Satanism, the Church of Satan themselves even responded and claimed that what Smith and Petras tried to achieve was "nothing particularly special," especially because the Satanic imagery was "kind of passé" now.
However, it seems like the commotion has escalated from online to real life as the 'Gloria' vocalist was taunted on the streets in NYC by an older woman - clearly still infuriated by their performance.
Watch the video below:In the footage, which was filmed by an onlooker, Smith was wearing navy blue jeans and a blazer, matched with caramel-colored shoes. They are then seen filming the woman, who was angrily shouting: "You belong in hell!"
She then continued: "Sam Smith belongs in hell. You demonic, twisted, sick b*****d," while the 'Lay Me Down' musician strolled past her with their phone out.
Smith stayed composed and put away their mobile device and walked by - without saying anything - while the furious woman yelled: "Leave the kids alone, you sick f***er," before adding once again: "You're evil", amongst other obscenities.
Upon seeing the distressing clip, many users took to the social media platform to express discomfort with the woman's attitude as one person 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."
A third added: "This is insane I hope sam smith is doing okay mentally the way masses of people hate them for just being themselves is disgusting I hope they have a good support system."
A fourth shared: "This must’ve been so f***ing scary. And the fact that there are so many people around and not a single person is saying something is horrible. Also btw y’all’s online hate campaigns and nasty comments towards Sam have 100% contributed to this and all of you are at fault too."
Smith and Petras's performance divided opinion and the 18 complaints CBS received recently could land them in hot water.
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.