Sia Denies Accusations Of Blackface

On Monday, Sia took sides in the feud between Taylor Swift and Scooter Braun, reports Billboard. After Swift released a scathing statement in regards to Braun owning her music catalog, Sia came to the music manager’s defense. The 43-year-old singer characterized Braun as “a good, kind man.”

Sia’s public support of Braun angered some of Swift’s dedicated fans. According to People, Swifties uncovered footage of the “Chandelier” singer performing in what appeared to be blackface.

The singer, who notoriously wears a wig covering her face, quickly denied the claims of racism. In a tweet with an attached video, the singer revealed her reasoning for painting her face and neck black.

“For the Swift fans trying to make out that I would ever do blackface please see this video. I was painting myself into the backdrop, it was a precursor to the wig,” Sia explained.

The Daily Mail noted in the 2011 video that the singer performed “Never Gonna Leave Me,” wearing all black against a black backdrop. The black face paint was reportedly used to further conceal the singer.

Sia is among various celebrities who have publicly defended Braun.

As stated in People, Demi Lovato took to Instagram stories to support her manager.

“I have dealt with bad people in the industry and Scooter is not one of them. He’s a good man… Please stop ‘dragging’ people or bullying them,” Lovato wrote.

Justin Bieber also passionately defended Braun. Bieber addressed the issue in a lengthy Instagram post, questioning Swift’s motivation behind releasing a statement against Braun.

“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,” Bieber said.

Bieber faced major backlash with his statement. Swift’s friend, model Cara Delevingne, reprimanded Bieber, pointing out that he has not been in contact with Swift for years and is unaware of the full situation.

Delevingne is not the only celeb standing by Swift.

In a livestream on Twitch, Panic! at the Disco’s Brendon Urie weighed in on the feud, revealing that he feels Braun actions were “disgusting.”

Victoria’s Secret model Martha Hunt noted that she feels Swift has been bullied by Braun. In addition, Hunt believes Swift showed courage in exposing the music manager’s actions.

Singer Halsey also stated that Swift deserves to “own the painstaking labor of her heart.”

With so much support, Swift does not appear to have any plans of backing down.