Celebrities

Troye Sivan Responds to Body Diversity Critiques in “Rush” Music Video

Credit: Instagram/@troyesivan

“It wasn’t a thought we had.”

Earlier this month, Troye Sivan dropped one of the hottest tracks of the summer and delivered a steamy music video to accompany it. The singer teased the new song on Instagram for weeks, which had many fans on the edge of their seats.

Fortunately, the waiting paid off, and “Rush” was an instant hit. It was declared a gay pop anthem and applauded for its unapologetic display of queer joy. However, fans did have one significant issue with the video: its lack of body diversity.

In an interview with Billboard, Sivan responded to the backlash.

“I definitely hear the critique,” Sivan said. “To be honest, it just wasn’t a thought we had — we obviously weren’t saying, ‘We want to have one specific type of person in the video.’ We just made the video, and there wasn’t a ton of thought put behind that.”

Well, at least he is listening to the criticism. It is also important to mention how the things Sivan’s video is being praised for are the exact same reasons people criticize the work of fellow artist Sam Smith. But society’s standards of body expectations are nothing new.

Sivan Says All Bodies Are Beautiful

Sivan also spoke about his own body insecurities, and how the criticism for his video has affected him personally. “There was this article … and they were talking about [the lack of body diversity], and in the same sentence, this person said ‘Eat something, you stupid twinks,’” he recalled. “That really bummed me out to read that — because I’ve had my own insecurities with my body image. I think that everyone’s body is as beautiful as it is, including my own, and it just sucks to see people talking about other people’s bodies.”

The “Baby Angel” singer’s video is full of surprises, like numerous bare bums, glory holes, and shirtless choreography. It’s definitely NSFW.

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Troye Sivan Responds to Body Diversity Critiques in “Rush” Music Video

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