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The video for I'm Not Here to Make Friends starts with Sam, wearing an enormous pink coat, arriving at a remote castle by helicopter.
Viewers are taken inside the stately grandeur and become spectators as dancers and drag queens surround the singer for some sensuous moves to his new song.
One scene, in particular has people upset. It shows Sam in a corset and nipple tassel look, posing suggestively while being showered.
After the video was released, it soared to the top of its trending chart, and YouTube put the video under a restricted mode.
Not long after that, Sam was trending on Twitter. A lot of the posts called the video "vulgar" and asserted it was inappropriate for younger viewers. Others think Sam is a victim of double standards saying it's no worse than other videos released by artists containing provocative and suggestive imagery.
Sam Smith's debut and following projects were received well by mainstream audiences because it was mainly void of the new stance of embracing their queerness.
In 2019, the singer came out as non-binary and asked to be described with they/them pronouns. Their new album, Gloria, fully embraces their identity and LGBT culture.
Drag queen Pixie Polite says Sam's been targeted because of their queer identity and body type.
"If a female artist had done that same video, worn the same outfits, no one would bat an eyelid," says drag queen Pixie Polite.
"I think the outcry just smacks of this sort of homophobia, queerphobia, and transphobia."
There's also an element of fatphobia, says Pixie, as Sam doesn't conform to stereotypical ideal body standards.
It may also be essential to note that there have been protests against drag shows by those who purport the shows somehow indoctrinate children. One state even suggested fining citizens $1500 if they used someone's preferred pronouns. Over 100 anti-LGBTQ laws are on the books in the United States. Sam Smith is a desired target for those who continue to create an agenda of hate and uphold discriminatory legislature against the LGBTQIA+ community.
We're all about the music, and the song and the video are hot. Someone has to push the envelope. Sam is not here to make friends with those that don't fully love and embrace them and their
community as they are. Sam Smith's fourth studio album, "Gloria," is available now.