Sia usually covers her face with a wig, but harsh criticism of “Music,” her controversial movie with Maddie Ziegler— not to mention affair accusations against Shia LaBeouf — make her all too visible.
Sia — the singer-songwriter behind “Chandelier” and “Elastic Heart” — rarely gives interviews. On stage, she hides behind wigs that cover her entire face. Privacy is her thing. But lately, Sia Kate Isobelle Furler has found herself in an uncomfortable spotlight. And those who know the reclusive artist say she is no doubt pained by it. Her former manager Tim Clark told The Post that it can turn one of two ways: “She’ll either be incredibly angry or else go back into herself and retreat.” That spotlight will burn brightly Sunday as her film-directing debut, “Music,” is up for two Golden Globes — Best Picture in the musical or comedy category, and Best Actress in that genre for Kate Hudson. The movie centers on an autistic girl — played by 18-year-old Maddie Ziegler, who has starred in many of Sia’s music videos and who’s not on the autism spectrum herself — and her drug-dealing sister (Hudson). The Post’s Johnny Oleksinski described Ziegler’s performance as “an uncomfortably heightened imitation that never rings true and verges on mockery,” adding that the actress “always has her mouth open with a wide grin and exaggerates facial expressions like she’s Marcel Marceau.” It has drawn fire from the autism community. “[‘Music’] seemed like it made fun of people on the autism spectrum,” Camille Proctor, executive director of the Color of Autism Foundation, told The Post. “And I don’t guess that Sia feels bad about it.” More than 55,000 people signed petitions calling for an official condemnation of “Music” by the film industry. With criticism piling on, Sia,45, earlier this month said she would remove scenes in which Ziegler’s character is physically restrained — a dangerous tactic discouraged by autism advocates. “I listened to the wrong people and that is my responsibility…” Sia tweeted. (She has since deleted her Twitter account.) It was just two months ago that she admitted to having listened to another wrong person: Shia LaBeouf, who starred in Sia’s 2015 music video for “Elastic Heart.” After the actor’s ex-girlfriend, singer FKA Twigs, filed a suit accusing him of sexual assault, Sia tweeted that LaBeouf was a “pathological liar, who conned me into an adulterous relationship … ” And those who know Sia say all this public turmoil is likely taking a high toll on her. “She is an emotional person,” said Ryan Fitzgerald, a DJ in Sia’s native Australia who has interviewed her a dozen or so times. He added that Sia — who has said she suffers from PTSD and neuralgia after a misdiagnosis of Bipolar II disorder — “has had hard times. This will hurt her. She will be finding it really tough.” Born and raised in Adelaide, Australia, Sia came from a splintered family.
