Sia has come under fire for the way autism is depicted in her new film, Music.
The film, directed by the “Chanedelier” singer, stars Maddie Ziegler as a non-verbal autistic girl named Music. Critics instantly lashed out on Twitter after the film’s trailer dropped Thursday (November 19th), slamming the casting of Sia's frequent collaborator, Ziegler, in the title role rather than an actor on the autism spectrum.
The National Autism Society, for one, tweeted: @sia has got this one wrong. There are so many talented autistic actors out there.”
Sia defended herself on social media, writing that using Ziegler was her “call” and that “our intentions are good meaningful and loving.”
She also added, "I cast thirteen neuroatypical people, three trans folk, and not as f—— prostitutes or drug addicts but as doctors, nurses and singers. F—– sad nobody’s even seen the dang movie. My heart has always been in the right place."
The film also stars Kate Hudson as Music’s drug-dealing older sister and guardian as well as Leslie Odom Jr., Juliette Lewis and Ben Schwartz.