Shock jock Howard Stern has raised eyebrows with his description of English singer-songwriter Sam Smith as "fat" and "an ugly motherf---er".
The controversial radio host made the remarks on Sirius XM radio during a countdown of the Billboard Hot 100, in which Smith's latest single came in at No.5.
"He's an ugly motherf---er. He's fat, and I love it," Stern said.
When his co-host Robin Quivers said she thought Smith had come out as gay, Stern went on: "Oh, is he gay? You know what, he looks gay to me. not that anybody looks gay but he does seem effeminate.
"I like that he's chubby and gay, that's why I love him."
Stern and Quivers agreed that the singer had a "beautiful, beautiful voice" but was physically not the type of pop star about whom young female fans usually fantasise.
"That's how good that song is – he's fat and he's gay, and little girls worship him. That's when you know you have a good song and you have a good voice," Stern said.
"I'd like to get him in here and congratulate him on beating the odds. He's like the male Adele."
Stern said he thought Smith's success would be limited to his current single, I'm Not The Only One. But the 22-year-old singer had already had global success with his debut album In The Lonely Hour, which reached No.2 on the Billboard chart and No.1 in his native UK. It also spawned the US No.2 single Stay With Me.
Smith appeared to respond to Stern's comments with two understated tweets.
Can't believe what I've just read. — SAM SMITH (@samsmithworld)
January 25, 2015
Ignore. — SAM SMITH (@samsmithworld)
January 25, 2015
Smith has always talked openly about his sexuality and weight, telling the UK Guardian in August that he was "very big" as a teenager and now stuck to a diet.
"Food is my favourite thing in the world. I always say if I ate what I actually wanted to eat I'd be in one of those electronic scooters because I'd be too big," he said.
Until recently he was in a relationship with Jonathan Zeizel, an extra from the video clip to his album's fifth single, Like I Can.
Smith will also perform at the 57th Annual Grammy Awards in February, where he has received six nominations including song of the year, record of the year and best pop solo performance for the song Stay With Me.
He recently announced that Tom Petty and Jeff Lynne would be given writing credits for the song, after the rockers' publishers found it had striking similarities with Petty's 1989 hit I Won't Back Down. His spokesperson maintained that "the likeness was a complete coincidence".
There was speculation the writing credit meant Petty and Lynne could win Grammys, but the Recording Academy told Billboard magazine the pair would not be eligible because they did not contribute "new writing" on the song.
