Kyle Sandilands defends Sia following autism backlash
Kyle Sandilands defends Sia after being diagnosed with autism two years after her movie Music was labeled ‘ableist’ for not using an actress with the disorder to play an autistic character
Kyle Sandilands has defended Sia after her recent admission that she is autistic.
The shock jock stood by the Australian singer and said she shouldn’t have faced backlash for her portrayal of the disorder in her controversial film Music, starring Maddie Ziegler.
The film was criticized in 2021 for casting Ziegler, who is not autistic, to play an autistic character.
“So what, that’s acting?” Kyle said Wednesday The Kyle and Jackie O Show after co-host Jackie ‘O’ Henderson brushed him up on the controversy.
“You have to let an autistic person play an autistic person? That’s called acting, that’s nonsense.’ Jackie agreed, before revealing that Sia is “on the spectrum.”
KIIS FM shock jock Kyle Sandilands (pictured) defended Sia on Wednesday after her recent admission that she is autistic
Sia revealed she was diagnosed with autism when she appeared on Thursday’s episode of two-time Survivor contestant Rob Cesternino’s podcast, Rob Has a Podcast (seen in 2015)
Sia revealed she was diagnosed with autism when she appeared on Thursday’s episode of two-time Survivor contestant Rob Cesternino’s podcast, Rob Has a Podcast.
“For 45 years I thought… ‘I have to put on my human suit,’” she explained. “And it’s only in the last two years that I’ve become completely, completely myself.”
Over the years, the nine-time Grammy nominee, who recently married Dan Bernard earlier this month, said she’s learned that “no one can ever know and love you if you’re full of secrets and…living in shame.”
The Australian star went on to gushes about feeling “a room full of strangers” telling her “deepest, darkest, most embarrassing secrets” and feeling seen as they laugh along with her experiences.
Zu struggles to provide music, but is helped by their neighbor Ebo (Leslie Odom Jr.).
Two years after sparking outrage for her portrayal of the disorder in her controversial movie Music, starring Maddie Ziegler and Kate Hudson, the 47-year-old singer shared the news that she’s “on the spectrum” (pictured in 2021)
After criticism for seemingly not casting neurodivergent actors in the film, Sia tweeted at the time that many of the cast members themselves had autism.
‘I cast thirteen neuroatypical people, three transgenders, and not as fucking prostitutes or drug addicts, but as doctors, nurses and singers. F**king sad no one saw the dang movie. My heart has always been in the right place,” she tweeted.
When asked, ‘Have you done any research or consulted the community at all? It’s very condescending to say it would be cruel to consult a disabled actor.”
Sia replied, “Duh. I’ve been doing research for three damn years, I guess that’s why I’m so damn disappointed.’
Sia’s 2021 drama faced heavy backlash over its portrayal of autism, accusing it of being “skillful” and contributing “to harmful stereotypes of autistic people”
“For 45 years I thought… ‘I have to put on my human suit,’” she explained. ‘And only in the last two years have I become completely, completely myself’
She then went on to talk about how the Autism Speaks charity worked alongside her in the film, writing, “Autism Speaks came on board long after the film ended, four years in fact. I had no idea it was such a polarizing group!’
A fan defended her, writing: “Please ignore them Sia, I am a disabled person and am not offended by the premise of your film…
‘I have been criticized by part of the disabled community for my opinion, but my opinion remains unchanged. I look forward to seeing it and judging it on its merits.”
She replied, “Thank you so much and I hope you love it as much as I do.”