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Sia has revealed that she “stepped in” when disgraced movie producer Harvey Weinstein invited dancer and child star Maddie Ziegler to fly with him on his private plane.
Weinstein, who is now serving a 23-year prison sentence for sexual assault and rape in the third degree, is thought to have offered the invitation to Ziegler before he was outed as a predator.
Appearing on the Zach Sang Show, Sia explained how she became close to Ziegler – who is now 17 – after she starred in her ‘Chandelier’ video in 2014.
She said: “I mean, as soon as I met Maddie I felt this extreme desire to protect her, and I think that it was part of my own healing, and I felt this extreme compulsion to protect her.
“The irony is that I didn’t want to be famous and I threw this child into the spotlight. She would say to me, ‘Don’t be silly, I was already famous and I wanted to be famous.’ And I would say, ‘And you know, it can stop at any time, right? If you want it to stop, I can make it stop. You can just go back to being a normal person again.’ But she just said, ‘No, I love performing. I love dancing, and I love acting so much.’”
Recalling the interaction with Weinstein , Sia revealed that the shamed producer didn’t give any thought about how old the dancer was at the time.
“So I thought, how’s a good way I can keep her safe is just keep making projects for her, and therefore most of the time we’re working together – and you know I kept her off a plane that Harvey Weinstein tried to get her on,” she said.
“I know there’s times where my insight has really made a difference, like kept her safe… Yeah, that was really disgusting… When he invited her, that’s when I called, I told (her mom) Melissa, I had to. I just said, ‘Please don’t, do not do that, do not do that, do not do that.'”
The singer added that she is still in contact with Ziegler and described herself as a “pain in the butt” by giving her opinions and views on the singer’s fledgling career.
Last month, it was reported that a Sia-inspired mural in Adelaide will be altered after the singer’s management reportedly complained to the city council of its close likeness.
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