(YouTube)
Sia took to Twitter late Wednesday to respond to the backlash she received following the release of her “Elastic Heart” music video (below), which starred a barely dressed Shia LaBeouf alongside 12-year-old dancer Maddie Ziegler. The singer noted that she never intended to “upset anybody” with the footage of LaBeouf and a pre-teen Ziegler dancing in a cage.
“I anticipated some ‘pedophelia!!!'” she tweeted. “Cries for this video. All I can say is Maddie and Shia are two of the only actors I felt could play these two warring ‘sia’ self states.” She added, “I apologize to those who feel triggered by #ElasticHeart My intention was to create some emotional content, not to upset anybody.”
As Gossip Cop previously reported, Sia directed the artsy five-minute video alongside Daniel Askill. The clip shows LaBeouf in nude boxers and Ziegler in a similarly colored bodysuit as they writhe and crawl like trapped animals. The video ends with the “Dance Moms” star escaping through the cage’s steel rails, while LaBeouf desperately clings to her.
Many people took to social media to slam the video after its debut. “The elastic heart video is creepy. all I kept thinking was, ‘pedophile,” one person tweeted. Another wrote, “Sia’s Elastic Heart video with Shia LeBeouf dancing with and touching a 12 year old girl is very uncomfortable to watch.” But not everyone found the footage disturbing. Many fans of the video defended Sia. One fan noted, “the media is sexualizing the elastic heart video clip and saying sia is a sick pedophile. the video has NOTHING sexual, you’re the sick one.” Another added, “I didnt really get any pedophile vibes from the Elastic Heart video. It seemt [sic] really artistic. People are so shallow and close minded” What do you think of the “Elastic Heart” video?
