Sam Smith Received Hate From Body-Shaming Trolls Over ‘I’m Not Here To Make Friends,’ Followed By Support From Fans

Sam Smith isn’t here to make friends. This is evident on the latest single from their fourth studio album, Gloria, appropriately-titled, “I’m Not Here To Make Friends.”

In the song’s accompanying visual, which was released in tandem with the album last Friday (January 27), Smith is seen at a party dressed in several spicy outfits, including black lingerie and skin-toned undergarments which leave little to the imagination. While the video was well-received by fans, several trolls commented on the video with body-shaming comments, as well as fem-shaming comments, as Smith is seen embracing the feminine aspects of their queer, non-binary identity.

Over the course of the past weekend, several fans took to social media to share messages of support for Smith.

“You are entitled to like or not like Sam Smith music,” said one fan on Twitter, “but what y’all won’t do is fat shame Sam and stop calling them ‘he’ like it makes you look bad not them!”

YouTuber Owen Jones, also showed his support, and cited a double standard that queer artist face when sharing their art.

“Sex has always been a running theme in modern pop music, and music videos often flaunt it,” he said. “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.”

A fan on TikTok outright said, “There is no issue. Literally, it’s just a gorgeous human being creating their music, their visuals, and living their best life. And you should be enjoying it.”

Smith themself has not directly responded to any trolls, but they appear to be unfazed: Yesterday (January 29), they shared a frame from the video on Twitter, which they cheekily captioned, “Never too much.”

Gloria is out now via Capitol/EMI. Stream it here.