Sia Comes Under Fire for Casting Maddie Ziegler as an Autistic Teenager in 'Music' Film
The artist has responded to the criticisms, and it's not pretty
Published Nov 20, 2020
Yesterday, long-running pop mainstay Sia announced that she would be releasing her directorial debut with the feature film Music next year. Upon the arrival of its trailer, however, she faced some major criticism for her casting choices in the film, after it was revealed that her longtime collaborator Maddie Ziegler would be playing a character with autism.The backlash has resulted in numerous trending topics on Twitter today, including #NothingAboutUsWithoutUs and #ActuallyAutistic.
One autistic actor tweeted that she would have gladly acted in the film on short notice:
Several autistic actors, myself included, responded to these tweets. We all said we could have acted in it on short notice. These excuses are just that- excuses. The fact of the matter is zero effort was made to include anyone who is actually autistic.#NothingAboutUsWithoutUs
— Helen Z #BlackLivesMatter #Pride2020 (@HelenAngel) November 20, 2020
In a pair of undeniably insensitive replies, Sia called the response "fucking bullshit" and added "Maybe you are just a bad actor."
Fucking bullshit. You have no fucking idea because you weren't there and haven't seen the movie.
— sia (@Sia) November 20, 2020
Maybe you're just a bad actor.
— sia (@Sia) November 20, 2020
Sia also tweeted that she was frustrated that people were judging her film before watching it:
Grrrrrrrrrr. Fuckity fuck why don't you watch my film before you judge it? FURY.
— sia (@Sia) November 20, 2020
There were a few other rather, er, ill-advised tweets. Fortunately, they've been screenshotted for whenever they are inevitably deleted:
CN Sia
— Noor (he/him) 🧜🏽📿 (@SnoringDoggo) November 20, 2020
*sigh* Hoo boy. Just gonna...document this for when it inevitably gets deleted. pic.twitter.com/1FAnLQbllZ
Sia's movie Music is opening in IMAX theatres in February 2021.