This week, a disturbing video of Sam Smith being heckled in the West Village of New York City started to go viral.
In the clip, the heckler screamed, “You belong in hell! Sam Smith belongs in hell, you demonic twisted sick bastard.”
“Leave the kids alone, you sick fucker. Sam Smith is a pedophile. Grooming the kids, you sick motherfucker, Sam Smith. You’re evil.”
In the video — which we won’t show — Sam does not respond, but they appear to film the heckler.
This rhetoric that’s directed at Sam — who recently came out as nonbinary — likely stems from the fact that, for the last few years, alt-right and right-wing media has promulgated the idea that LGBTQ — especially trans people, nonbinary people, and even drag queens — are groomers and pedophiles.
Sam has been open recently about the harassment they often face in the streets. “What people don’t realize with trans nonbinary people in the UK is it’s happening in the street,” they told Apple Beats 1’s Zane Lowe. “So, that was the hardest part, I think, was being at home in the UK and having people shouting at me in the street. Someone spat at me in the street. It’s crazy.”
Sam has not responded to the heckler or posted any footage of the incident, but we’ll update you if and when they do.
