Sia Has Words for Taylor Swift Fans Accusing Her of Using Blackface

Sia is speaking out after she was accused of racism and blackface after Taylor Swift fans uncovered old footage of her from a 2011 performance with her face and neck covered in black paint. Addressing the controversy on Monday, the “Cheap Thrills” singer explained the story behind the photos in question.

“For the swift fans trying to make out that I would ever do blackface please see this video,” she wrote alongside a video of the 2011 performance. “I was painting myself into the backdrop, it was a precursor to the wig…”

The spat between the singer and fans was sparked after the “Chandelier” singer took to Twitter on Monday to add her voice to the ongoing feud between Swift and prominent music manager Scooter Braun, who recently acquired the “Me!” singer’s former record label, Big Machine Records, as well as her entire back catalog of music.

In her post, Sia had defended Braun, writing, “You’re a good kind man [Scooter Braun]. I hope this passes quickly. I love you keep going.”

The praise and support did not sit well with many of Swift’s fans, who blasted the singer and eventually dug up the footage of her donning black paint, which many alleged was evidence of blackface.

Of course, Sia is far from the only A-listers to back Braun, whom Swift has accused of “manipulative bullying.” Shortly after the “Bad Blood” singer’s Tumblr post was shared, Justin Bieber took to Instagram to defend his manager, claiming that Swift had “crossed a line.”

“As the years have passed we haven’t crossed paths and gotten to communicate our differences, hurts or frustrations,” Bieber wrote in part. “So for you to take it to social media and get people to hate on scooter isn’t fair. What were you trying to accomplish by posting that blog? seems to me like it was to get sympathy [you] also knew that in posting that your fans would go and bully scooter. Anyway, One thing i know is both scooter and i love you.”

“I usually don’t rebuttal things like this but when you try and deface someone i loves character thats crossing a line,” he concluded.

As part of the deal, Braun’s acquisition of Big Machine included Swift’s entire backlog of music, including all of her first six albums (her self-titled album, Fearless, Speak Now, Red, 1989, and her most-recently released album Reputation). Swift called it her “worst case scenario.”