"I was suicidal and relapsed": Sia opens up on backlash to her movie 'Music' and leaves the internet divided

Australian musician Sia opened up about her emotional state after receiving backlash for her 2021 directorial film Music.

In an interview with The New York Times, as part of a profile on US comic Kathy Griffin, Sia revealed that Griffin saved her life.

"I was suicidal and relapsed and went to rehab."

The My Love singer checked into rehab following extreme outrage for casting neurotypical actress and dancer Maddie Ziegler for the pivotal role of Gamble, a nonverbal and autistic teenager. The film was also criticized for showing scenes where characters are restrained.

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Twitter reacts to Sia's comment

The singer's recent confession took Twitter by storm, where some users supported her while others were more critical. The comment sparked conversations around mental health and how the singer was lucky to have friends that could help her cope with distressing times.

Critics of the singer believe this to be a publicity stunt. They accuse Sia of further hurting the feelings of autistic people.

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The 'Music' controversy

Music's controversy began in November 2020 when its first music video and trailer dropped. Twitterati questioned why the singer did not cast an actor from the autistic spectrum but chose to go with Maddie Ziegler.

While responding to criticism of her casting Ziegler on Twitter, Sia worsened the situation.

In a now-deleted tweet, the singer said she tried working with a young non-verbal girl on the spectrum, but the girl found it stressful and unpleasant. Hence, Sia went with Ziegler.

Following this, the Elastic Heart singer responded to one of the critics of her move. The user stated that the singer was making excuses and several autistic actors said they would act in the film on short notice. They also stated that no effort was made to include autistic people.

As per Newsweek, she replied:

"Maybe you're just a bad actor."

Post that, she had hit back at the critics saying they had "no f***ing idea.” The singer also defended Ziegler, who had previously worked with her in music videos of Elastic Heart and Chandelier.

Sia stated that the film "needed a dancer" and was not a documentary. She also clarified that Kate Hudson, who plays Gamble’s sister, was not portrayed as a drug dealer and Leslie Odom Jr does not hail from Ghana.

After the film was released, it received two Golden Globe nominations. Before disabling her Twitter handle, the singer apologized to everyone and stated that her film in no way "recommends" the use of restraint on autistic people.

She further said that she planned on removing the restraint scenes from future movie prints and admitted that her research was not thorough enough.

Music was released on February 21, 2021, and starred Mary Kay Place, Braeden Marcott, Beto Calvillo, and Eric Davis.