Was Sam Smith being cruel — or was he just jealous?
The Grammy winner — who's spoken openly about his battle with his weight and impressive slimdown in recent years — has been accused of fat-shaming a British woman vacationing in Los Angeles over her decadent breakfast.
On June 17, reports reveal, Sam was having breakfast at Millie's Cafe in L.A., where he shot some brief Instagram videos (which have since been deleted) of the woman at the next table eating with friends. The clip focused on their meals — large plates of thick French toast and blueberries covered in syrup and whipped cream.
In one brief clip, Sam zooms in on their food, moving past his boyfriend, "13 Reasons Why" actor Brandon Flynn, captioning it "good going," reports Britain's The Daily Star. Another clip that shows a near-empty plate and the woman taking a bite was captioned "going gone."
The woman, Londoner Lauren Brooks, told The Daily Star she was mortified to discover Sam had recorded her and posted it on his account. "It seems as if he is fat-shaming me for having such a big breakfast," she said. "He has 9.5 million followers — and anyone who knew me and followed him would recognize me right away. Imagine if I was a girl who was even slightly insecure about her weight. To have a celeb mock her for eating a meal would be horrendous."
But Sam, through his rep, has denied fat-shaming her. His rep told The Sun Online that the music star filmed Lauren's plate "because he was jealous of her fabulous breakfast."
The "Stay With Me" singer made headlines in 2015 when, at 22, he kick-started a lasting weight-loss journey by losing 14 pounds in 14 days following advice in British nutritionist Amelia Freer's book "Eat. Nourish. Glow."
He continued to slim down, dropping a total of nearly 50 pounds from his 6-foot-2 frame — and has kept it off.
"From a young age, food has controlled me, basically," he told "60 Minutes Australia" in 2015. "When I was at school and wasn't having a great time or when music wasn't going very well, I would eat. When I felt lonely, I would eat."
During an interview on the "Today" show the same year, the Oscar-winning songwriter talked about being teased as a child about his weight and his sexuality identity. "When someone calls you gay, there's not much you can do about that because I am. Whereas, if someone calls you fat, there is something you can do about that." He also confessed, "I went to bed last night dreaming of tuna melts. I love food."
Sam appeared to leave L.A. the same day that he and Brandon, whom he started dating in 2017, went to Millie's Cafe. "Beautiful few weeks off in California. Ready to kick off our North American tour in @champagnepapi's Kingdom – Toronto – TOMORROW!! Can't wait to see you all there xx," Sam captioned an Instagram photo of himself at LAX Airport on June 17.
Sam is on the North American leg of his "The Thrill of it All" tour until September.