Sam Smith’s racy music video sparks fierce debate

One commentator says Sam Smith’s latest music video is “monstrous” – while others say the backlash is rooted in homophobia.

Sam Smith in their new video.

Singer Sam Smith’s latest music video is causing quite the stir, as the star unveils their raciest look yet – and sparks fierce debate on social media.

Sam, who is non-binary and uses they/them pronouns, dons a corset and nipple pasties for the OTT music video to their latest single, the Calvin Harris-produced I’m Not Here To Make Friends.

It’s the latest single from Sam’s fourth studio album Gloria, also home to the worldwide number one smash Kim Petras duet Unholy.

Sam Smith in the I'm Not Here To Make Friends video.

The racy video is causing a stir online.

But Sam’s look in the new clip has seen the star get attacked and trolled online – as others rushed to defend them, suggesting homophobia and fatphobia are to blame for those apparently so horrified by Sam’s revealing look.

When Sam released their debut album in May 2014 – the same month they publicly came out as gay – both their music and personal style were far more conservative.

Early press shots showed Smith looking Buble-esque in a standard uniform of dark suits, while their breakthrough songs were all lovelorn ballads like Lay Me Down and Stay With Me.

Sam Smith, the early years. Picture: Peter Wallis

Sam in the I'm Not Here To Make Friends video.

But in recent years, Smith’s music and style have both relaxed – more upbeat songs, and more flamboyant clothing.

Cue the outrage from some quarters for I’m Not Here To Make Friends. One commentator described the video as “monstrous” and “degrading,” while another accused Sam of “wearing their sexuality like a costume and shoving it in everyone’s face”.

But many more rushed to Sam’s defence:

Sam Smith is out there producing the most creative and authentic work of their career. If you're remotely offended by it, you should ask what that says about you, not about them as an artist and person.

— Nick Levine (@mrnicklevine) January 30, 2023

All the faux outrage over the new Sam Smith video and what it'll do to children — weird the amount of us who grew up unfazed and untainted even though we heard "I'm horny, horny, horny, horny" or "sex bomb, sex bomb, you're a sex bomb" every five minutes in the 90s.

— SHANE REACTION (@imshanereaction) January 28, 2023

Re: all this “bUt sOmEoNe ThInK oF tHe cHiLdReN” Sam Smith music video discourse, @lilyallen said it best: pic.twitter.com/Ztb29UCwp2

— ais (@AisOwens) January 30, 2023

I have no time for this Sam Smith nonsense pic.twitter.com/GPVw28kRZT

— Jordan-Lee (@Jordan_Lee) January 30, 2023

I finally watched the Sam Smith video and was like "that's...it?!"

Freddie Mercury, Brian May, Roger Taylor and John Deacon were in full 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.

— Sooz Kempner🐀 (@SoozUK) January 30, 2023

It wasn’t Britney’s job to parent your kids 20 years ago, and it isn’t Sam Smith’s job now

— Harrison Brocklehurst (@harrisonjbrock) January 29, 2023

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.

— Owen Jones (@OwenJones84) January 30, 2023

I was going to ask “what has sam smith done to deserve this amount of hate directed at them” but it’s quite literally that they’re queer and fat isn’t it. that’s what it comes down to

— das 🌿 (@das_penman) January 29, 2023

The backlash against Sam Smith is absolutely about people not wanting people to be overtly sexual unless they’re skinny

— marcus 🇧🇧🏳️‍🌈 (@marcusjdl) January 29, 2023

If Sam Smith were thin, cis, and straight, they wouldn’t be ridiculed for how they present and dress. If Harry Styles wore the same fits on a magazine cover, y’all would be screaming YAS QUEEN. Anyway, support fat queer people.

— Mae Murray (@maemurrayxo) January 30, 2023

As debate raged, Smith themselves appeared to reference the furore, posting this photo of themselves from the set of the video with the simple caption: “Never too much.”

Never too much ✨ pic.twitter.com/ANKVPEvoXV

— SAM SMITH (@samsmith) January 29, 2023

See what all the fuss is about below:

In 2019, Smith admitted they felt self conscious if they were photographed without a T-shirt and would often starve themself in anticipation of a photography session.

“In the past if I have ever done a photo shoot with so much as a T-shirt on, I have starved myself for weeks in advance and then picked and prodded at every picture and then normally taken the picture down,” they wrote on Instagram.

However, they decided to “reclaim” their body, saying it was time to “stop trying to change this chest and these hips and these curves that my mum and dad made and love so unconditionally”.