Sam Smith has defended himself against the backlash he received, when he tweeted about a friend being racially abused.
The ‘Writing’s On The Wall’ singer was left “speechless” when his pal was the subject of a racist incident, and took to Twitter to explain that he “never ever ever ever thought” it would happen in London.
Many fans accused him of “whitesplaining”, with some branding him “patronising” and “privileged”.
Sam Smith
However, Sam has now hit back with a statement on Instagram, insisting that he was simply pointing out how racism shouldn’t exist in today’s society.
“For the record, I was merely sharing an experience I had in the hope it would draw attention to how ridiculous it is to be racist in 2016,” he wrote.
“This is not about me in any way. It’s about a deep rooted issue we have in our society that should now be extinct.
“I don’t profess to know or remotely understand what it means to be on the receiving end of racist abuse, but having been bullied my whole life for being gay, what I do know is that it is wrong and completely unacceptable.”
In his string of original tweets about the incident, Sam said he was disappointed in the police’s reaction to the incident.
"The police were so unhelpful in the situation and its deeply shocked me," he said.
“I feel like I have to say something. I'm just so upset. So UPSET,” he added.
Sam was recently nominated for his first Academy Award, for his track ‘Writing’s On The Wall’, taken from the soundtrack to the last ‘James Bond’ film, ‘Spectre’.
He’s also been nominated for Best British Video at the Brit Awards, alongside fellow nominees Little Mix, One Direction and Adele.