Yesterday, photos surfaced on Instagram of Sam Smith and his new boyfriend Jonathan Zeizel on vacation in Sydney, Australia. They posed for snapshots on a boat in the ocean and at SeaWorld, playing with seals. Now the "I'm Not The Only One" crooner has been forced to defend his visit to SeaWorld Australia after fans criticized him for supporting animal cruelty and some even threatened to boycott his music.
"Seaworld Australia and Seaworld America are two very different things. Please remember this guys x," Smith tweeted about the Gold Coast, Queensland, resort, adding, "There's no whales here."
As the BBC points out, SeaWorld Australia features a variety of animals, including penguins, dolphins, and polar bears. It also runs an animal rescue program and conducts research into marine life and conservation. However, many animal rights organizations consider dolphins to be non-human persons, who should not be imprisoned -- which may explain why fans were upset about Smith's visit to the resort despite there being no whales.
The resort's counterpart in America has seen increased criticism following the 2013 documentary entitled Blackfish, which followed the life of "notorious performing whale Tilikum," who killed three trainers while in captivity "unlike any orca in the wild." The BBC described the film as a "shocking, never-before-seen footage and interviews with trainers and experts manifest the orca's extraordinary nature, the species' cruel treatment in captivity over the last four decades and the growing disillusionment of workers who were misled and endangered by the highly profitable sea-park industry".
Smith and Zeizel began their romance on the set of Smith's latest In The Lonely Hour music video, "Like I Can." He was a model and extra on the shoot when he caught Smith's eye. Smith confirmed their relationship last month.
"It's a surreal thing to be talking about because I haven't even confirmed with him that we're officially seeing each other," he told The Sun.
In other new, Smith recently told Chaka Khan that he thinks some of his fellow pop starts are "awful."
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