SALEM, OREGON: Fans of Sam Smith mistakenly believed they made a shocking dive into the crowd. The video of the dive went viral where the performer is seen wearing a Ninja Turtle costume and throwing themselves into the audience. However, they were not caught by the crowd.
As the video went viral, social media users trolled the person featured in the footage by body-shaming. They eventually tried debunking the performer as Smith in a video captured from a different angle. Smith, who came out in 2019, identifies as non-binary and uses 'they/them' pronouns.
'Feeling super free right now'
Talking to the Sunday Times, Smith previously told they "have the opposite of body dysmorphia," and explained, "I look fabulous. … I feel liberated, released from pressures I felt when I was young."
In a lengthy Instagram post, the American Music Award winner wrote, "I’ve decided to embrace myself for who I am, inside and out. … Feeling super free right now. Be kind," the 31-year-old singer wrote in their Instagram post. Smith revealed at the time that they came out after "a lifetime of being at war with [their] gender," according to Page Six.
'I guess Satan didn't have his back on that one'
Fans were confused about whether the dive was made by Smith or any other performers after the video went viral. One user tried clarifying the video was not Smith and that it was another person who jumped into the Vanilla Ice crowd in Oregon. and another user wrote, "As much as I can’t bare him that’s not Sam Smith unfortunately, it’s someone from a Vanilla Ice show dressed as a Ninja Turtle"
Their fans always defended them amid conservative backlash over Smith's identity and their appearances in skin-bearing and sexy outfits. "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," a fan previously tweeted. "It is absolutely mental that so many people think this is Sam Smith," a Twitter user recently wrote.
However, many Twitter users continued trolling the Grammy winner as one user wrote, "Have u been injured recently while at a concert.. From a free-falling turtle If you have you may be liable for compensation. No win no fee," while another tweeted, "That's not Sam Smith. Unless he has lost weight recently."
" 'Body Positive' singer Sam Smith does a stage dive, but it did not end well. I guess Satan didn't have his back on that one," a user remarked.
