Yesterday, Sia released an emotionally charged music video for her song “Elastic Heart.” The video stars dancer Maddie Ziegler, 12, and actor Shia LaBeouf, 28, fighting each other to find a way out of the giant birdcage they are trapped in. Ziegler previously starred in Sia’s video for “Chandelier,” which currently has over 400 million views on YouTube. “Elastic Heart” was produced by Diplo and featured on the soundtrack for The Hunger Games: Catching Fire. The video was directed by Sia and Daniel Askill.
Shortly after the video’s release several people took to Twitter to complain about how the video promotes pedophilia, which is probably due to the hands-on choreography combined with the large age gap between Ziegler and LaBeouf. Late last night Sia responded to the controversy surrounding her video via Twitter and gave an explanation for her casting choices.
She tweeted, “I apologize to those who feel triggered by #ElasticHeart. My intention was to create some emotional content, not to upset anybody.”
I anticipated some 'pedophelia!!!' Cries for this video. All I can say is Maddie and Shia are two of the only actors I felt could play
— sia (@Sia) January 8, 2015
When I watched the video for the first time there was nothing that stood out to me as being sexual at all. It’s a beautiful song with a strong message and I think that some people need to grow up. Sia is fabulous and she can do no wrong in my book.
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Sia also announced that Maddie will perform with her on Saturday Night Live. The show airs on January 17th and will be hosted by Kevin Hart. This will be Sia’s first appearance on the show.
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