Elon Musk has become the latest person to weigh in on Sam Smith’s performance of 'Unholy' at the Grammys on Sunday night, after many criticised the singer for dressing up as the Devil.
During the song, Sam Smith danced about the stage in their devil get-up, accompanied by a number of equally red-emblazoned dancers, whilst Kim Petras performed in a cage whilst fire shot around everywhere.
The song is called ‘Unholy’ after all, perhaps it’s just a bit on the nose, rather than obliquely Satanic?
What was everyone expecting?
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However, the Tesla and Twitter CEO clearly wasn’t impressed with Smith’s turn as he took to Twitter to comment on the performance.
Musk – who claims to be an activist for free speech – likened the performance to the apocalypse, claiming that it had ‘end of days vibes’.
Then, in another tweet beneath it, he wrote: “If that’s Satan, we have nothing to worry about.”
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Anyway, it seems as if everything Smith does these days comes with the requisite amount of criticism and disbelief from people who – if they really thought about it – might realise that this is exactly the point, and exactly what the artists wanted to happen.
After all, people have been using performance to be subversive and get across their points for years, right Madonna?
It's nothing particularly new, is it?
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Still, conservatives have been queuing up to bash the pair’s performance, with some even moved to call it ‘devil worshipping’ and Texas Senator Ted Cruz tweeting: “This…is…evil.”
Let’s hope that he never watches This is Spinal Tap or any other films like that, eh?
On her SiriusXM podcast, Megyn Kelly also attacked the performance for ‘celebrating Satan’.
But fans of the pair have hit back, claiming that there just might be something else behind the criticism that the performance has received.
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One wrote: “If Sam Smith were thin, cis, and straight, they wouldn’t be ridiculed for how they present and dress.”
The pair made history on the night, becoming the first non-binary and transgender people to take home the Grammy award for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance gong for that very same song.
Clearly emotional, Petras accepted the award, saying: “I’m the first transgender woman to win this award,
“I want to thank all the incredible transgender legends before me who kicked these doors open.”
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Before the ceremony, Petras had spoken about some of those legends that had gone before her, telling GRAMMYS.com: "I’m proud,
"I just feel like they’ve all kind of been overlooked a lot, and never really got what they deserved regarding their influence…
“It’s cool to be in the same category as those artists that I really look up to."
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‘Unholy’ shot right to the top of the charts all around the globe after it was released, also making Smith and Petras the first non-binary and transgender artists to top the Billboard Hot 100.
Tom Wood