Sam Smith addresses backlash to their crying ‘quarantine meltdown’ and the bullying comparisons with captain Tom Moore
(CFCMeady/ Twitter)
British singer Sam Smith has responded to the people who bullied them in the name of war veteran captain Tom Moore for posting a “quarantine meltdown” picture on Instagram.
When Smith shared a picture last week of them crying, with the caption “stages of a quarantine meltdown”, people online inexplicably began to compare them to the 99-year-old hero.
Moore, a war veteran, began fundraising on April 8. He hoped to raise £1,000 for NHS Charities Together by his 100th birthday on April 30 by walking 100 lengths of his garden.
But the incredible efforts of Captain Moore sparked a bizarre and horrific trend on social media, which appears to have started when one Twitter user posted a picture of the captain side-by-side with a picture of Sam Smith crying during self-isolation.
They wrote: “One is a multi millionaire snowflake (Sam Smith) sitting outside [their] house crying because [they’re] in self-isolation and the other is a 99-year-old war veteran raising money for the NHS.
“I know who I want on my side when the s**te hits the fan.”
One is a multi millionaire snowflake (Sam Smith) sitting outside his house crying because he’s in self-isolation and the other is a 99yr old war veteran raising money for the NHS.
I know who I want on my side when the Shite hits the fan. pic.twitter.com/LrDSc535fX
— CFC Meady (@CFCMeady) April 16, 2020
Now, Smith has addressed those who bullied them in Captain Moore’s name.
They “didn’t mean any malice”, they told Jamie Theakston and Amanda Holden on Heart Breakfast.
The 27-year-old ‘Dancing With A Stranger’ singer said: “It was six weeks ago I posted a picture and everyone else was posting pictures.
“It was probably bad timing of me, but I use my social media as if it’s just my friends on it.
“I posted with my humour and stuff, but it just didn’t get picked up very well, but I didn’t mean any malice by it at all.
“You know me, I’m always sharing all of my feelings all the time and trying to be as human as possible but sometimes maybe people can read it wrongly but that wasn’t really meaning it in a malicious or nasty way, I was just trying to be myself.”
Smith, who is self-isolating at home with their sister, has previously spoken about how self-isolation during the coronavirus pandemic has impacted their mental health – though this didn’t matter to the hundreds of people who retweeted the comparison between them and Captain Moore.
Last night, the British singer duetted with American musician John Legend for an emotional performance of “Stand By Me” for Lady Gaga’s One World: Together global concert.
