With its flames, cages, horns and all-round Satanic vibes, Sam Smith and Kim Petras’ eye-catching performance of their 2022 hit Unholy was one of the stand-out moments of this year’s Grammys.
Not everyone was impressed – not least actual Satanists. Speaking to TMZ, David Harris, a high-ranking member of the Church Of Satan, dismissed Smith’s performance as “alright” and “nothing particularly special.” Harris pointed out that Smith and Petras weren’t the first artists to uses ‘Satanic’ iconography, comparing it unfavourably to rapper Lil Nas X’s properly ‘blasphemous’ video for Montero (Call Me By Your Name).
Harris also addressed the backlash from right-wing politicians, including Republican Senator Ted Cruz, who described Smith’s performance as ‘evil’, and Marjorie Taylor Greene, who used it to peddle anti-vaxx conspiracy theories and claim the Church Of Satan had their own abortion clinic.
“The Grammy’s [sic] featured Sam Smith’s demonic performance and was sponsored by Pfizer,” tweeted Greene. “And the Satanic Church now has an abortion clinic in NM [New Mexico] that requires its patients to perform a Satanic ritual before services.”
The Church of Satan‘s David Harris responded to Greene’s comments, saying: “t's sad when politicians on a national stage use someone's religion as a punchline."
