A controversial comedian has ruffled the feathers of social media users after making a joke about Sam Smith's statement outfit at the BRIT Awards. Taking to Twitter, the 61-year-old Ricky Gervais photoshopped his own face onto the body of Sam, implying the hit singer was seeking attention for his look.
Sam Smith, who uses they/them pronouns, turned heads on the BRIT red carpet over the weekend. The statement latex outfit has inspired millions of memes and conversations, with many praising Sam for stepping outside of the box, reports The Mirror.
And although a lot of Ricky's followers enjoyed his swipe at Sam, many replied to The Office creator reminding him that Sam is no different to the iconic David Bowie, who Ricky was friends with, with their creative outfit choice. The Like I Can singer's attire featured a high neck, sleeves and legs made out of black latex that had an overinflated look to create a striking silhouette
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Despite a mostly positive response, some people have been poking fun at the pop star- with Ricky Gervais and Piers Morgan joining in. Posting on his Twitter on Sunday, Ricky shared an image of Sam that had been photoshopped to put Ricky's head on the body, he captioned the image with a sarcastic: "The Worst thing about being famous is the lack of privacy. I can't even walk down the street without people looking and pointing."
Fans were divided by Ricky's joke, with one person replying to him: "I must say, much as this guy isn't my cup of tea, it doesn't bother me what he's up to. In fact, i only see things about him from older men who seem increasingly upset about what younger generations are doing. This stuff happened in your generation too. You do know that, grandpa?"
Another added that the singer was wearing a similar outfit to one a late icon previously wore: "Bowie was doing it in the 70s." And a third said: "I agree Bowie is far far superior to Sam Smith in terms of talent that their talent can't be compared. That's not to say the idea of shock factor can't be. Even Jagger used to wear dresses etc."
However, many people also sided with Gervais, with one person tweeting: "Yeah but Bowie was naturally cool enough to pull it off. Sam Smith just looks like they photoshopped some office clerk onto the suit."
Piers Morgan followed suit with his own joke the following day, tweeting: "Methinks ‘they’ is getting a teeny weeny bit over-thirsty for attention."
Earlier this year Sam opened up about their gender identity and how the public reaction has affected them since their non-binary announcement. Talking to Zane Lowe on Apple Music 1, Sam said that there hasn't been any negative reaction in their personal life, but the they had received a lot of negativity from the public.
They said: "Just the amount of hate and s***ness that came my way was just exhausting. What people don't realize with trans non-binary people in the UK is it's happening in the street. Like I'm being abused in the street verbally more than I ever have."
The singer said went on to say that they had been harassed in the streets, recalling one incident where: "Someone spat at me like in the street. It's crazy".
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