American radio DJ Howard Stern launched an unwarranted and seemingly random attack on Sam Smith just last week, calling the singer "ugly, fat and effeminate".
Speaking on his radio show, he said: "Do you know what I love about that guy? He's an ugly motherfu**er. He's fat. And I love it."
He continued by saying: "You know what? He looks gay to me. Not that anybody looks gay but he does seem effeminate.
"I feel like that ['Stay With Me'] will be his only hit song. I'd like to get him in here and congratulate him on beating the odds."
Rather than issuing an angry response, Sam took to Twitter shortly after the comments were made, posting the following two tweets:
Actress Bonnie Hunt then sent him a wonderful message telling him he is "loved", which he retweeted onto his own timeline.
Meanwhile, The Sun is now reporting that Sam Smith and Tom Petty settled out of court in October following "notable similarities" between his song 'Stay With Me' and 1989 classic 'I Won't Back Down'.
A source explained: "When Sam's track was originally released, it was clear to a lot of musicians that there were notable similarities between the tracks. After it was pointed out to Sam's camp, they didn't try to fight it and amicably dished out royalties. It wasn't a deliberate thing, musicians are just inspired by other artists and Sam and his team were quick to hold up their hand when it was officially flagged."