Amid her ongoing drama with Scooter Braun following his purchase of her former label, Big Machine Records, and her back catalog of master recordings, fans of pop superstar Taylor Swift are accusing Sia of using blackface. The allegations came after the “Cheap Thrills” singer came to Braun’s defense, writing on Twitter that he is “a good man” and “I hope this passes quickly. I love you keep going.”
Following her words of support for Braun, whom Swift accused of “manipulative bullying,” many of Swift’s fans came to her defense, with several going as far as accusing her of blackface after they uncovered footage of Sia’s face and neck covered in black paint.
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Several such fans shared photos to illustrate their point.
Blackface pic.twitter.com/ol72vCrWsr
— 𝒾’𝓁𝓁 𝒷𝑒 𝓎𝑜𝓊𝓇 (@SinnerlnSecret) July 2, 2019
Three hours later, Sia, known for hiding her face behind wigs while on stage, came to her own defense, explaining that the photos in question were not of herself using blackface, but rather her using black paint to blend in with the backdrop.
“For the swift fans trying to make out that I would ever do blackface please see this video,” she wrote alongside clip a of herself performing “Never Gonna Leave Me” in 2011. “I was painting myself into the backdrop, it was a precursor to the wig…”
The spat was first prompted on Sunday when Swift took to Tumblr address the recent purchase of her music catalog with former record label, Big Machine, being sold to Braun’s company Ithaca Holdings. The back catalog Braun has now acquired from Swift includes her self-titled album, Fearless, Speak Now, Red, 1989, and her most-recently released album Reputation.
In her post, Swift called the acquisition her “worst case scenario” and accused Braun of subjecting her to “incessant, manipulative bullying” for years and “controlling a woman who didn’t want to be associated” with him.
Although many celebrities have supported her, including Halsey, Camilla Cabello, and Iggy Azalea, several more have voiced their support for Braun.
Demi Lovato, who signed with Braun back in May, defended the prominent music manager on her Instagram Story, describing him as a “good man.”
“I have dealt with bad people in the industry and Scooter is not one of them. He’s a good man. Personally, I’m grateful he came into my life when he did. Please stop ‘dragging’ people or bullying them. There’s enough hate in this world as it is,” she wrote.
“Y’all can come after me all you want but I’m always gonna stay loyal to my team,” she added in a second post. “I value loyalty more than most people in this world and if my name is gonna be brought into conversations I’m gonna stand up for myself and the ones on my team.”
Justin Bieber has also defended Braun, slamming Swift in the process when writing, “What were you trying to accomplish by posting that blog? Seems to me like it was to get sympathy.”
