Sam Smith: Unholy singer sparks debate about age restrictions with ‘raunchy’ I’m Not Here to Make Friends video

Sam Smith has divided the internet after releasing a music video that some viewers argue should come with an age restriction.

The ‘Unholy’ singer, 30, from London, released their new album Gloria on Friday alongside the video for their new single, 'I'm Not Here to Make Friends'.

The four-minute video opens to Sam extravagantly arriving at a castle in a golden helicopter, before being shown in a number of revealing outfits alongside scantily clad dancers who are dressed in corsets and suspenders.

This is a first for the singer, who was previously known for their emotional soulful ballads with songs like, ‘Too Good at Goodbyes’, ‘Stay With Me’ and ‘Diamonds’ - all of which were accompanied by simple, emotional, non-extravagant visuals.

Sam has a fiercely loyal fanbase, so their new offering has been considered a treat for many fans of the powerhouse vocalist. However, other viewers have been left less than impressed and are calling for the song’s visuals to be censored.

Viewers took to Twitter to voice their opinions, arguing whether YouTube should be age restricting such content, or if people are just triggered by the open representation of queer imagery.

One disappointed Twitter user, ranted: "No f***ing need, it's blatant tacky sexualised bulls**t. As a mum of teenagers, I'm sick of seeing people using s**t like this to sell their music."

Another complained: "I can’t believe kids look up to @samsmith. This s**t should be banned on YouTube."

One fan questioned the real reason for the backlash, and wrote: "All this Sam Smith ridicule just proves that heterosexual, cis people don’t want queer people being visibly queer in public: 'I’m fine with you being gay, just don’t show it'.

This comes after the singer-songwriter officially announced that they were non-binary in 2019, and asked to be referred to as they/them.

Many social media users were quick to point out that music videos released by women or featuring women in the same type of video, or outfit wouldn’t receive the same criticism.

Whilst others argued that it is the parents responsibility to be vigilant about what their children watch online - rather than ranting about their disapproval of Sam Smith’s new image.

Following the online backlash over the weekend, Sam’s new video also became a topic of discussion on Monday morning’s episode (30 January) of Good Morning Britain.

The discussion segment was titled, ‘Sam Smith: Empowering or Offensive?’, and saw Commentator Shivani Dave and former GB News star Alex Phillips debating whether the singer’s video was empowering or offensive.

Richard Madeley began the segment on the show, and again caused further backlash when he misgendered the singer.  Richard’s co-host Susanna Reid was quick to interject her colleague to remind him that he should refer to the singer’s preferred pronouns.

She said: “Remember Sam Smith uses the pronouns ‘they’.”

This quickly prompted Richard to apologise, however as the debate continued between the guests, Richard found himself making the same mistake again, as Shivani also uses the ‘they/them pronouns.