Norwegian singer Sophie Elise gets death threats after using a black actor in music video

Former reality star says she is afraid to leave her home

Jon Sharman
Thursday 10 August 2017 16:41 BST
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Viewers of Sophie Elise's video sent death threats over the presence of a black actor
Viewers of Sophie Elise's video sent death threats over the presence of a black actor (Sophie Elise/Universal)

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A Norwegian singer was reportedly deluged with death threats over a video in which a black man portrayed her lover.

Sophie Elise, 22, said her parents feared for her safety after comments were left under a YouTube post that included death threats and racist and sexist abuse.

The singer, who said the racist abuse showed "it's 2017 but we haven't gone very far", added that she now feared leaving the house

The messages under the video for the song All Your Friends were later deleted.

Ms Elise told BBC Newsbeat: "I've been a public figure in Norway for about six years so I am used to getting a lot of hate.

"But I really didn't think people would care about the guy's skin colour in my video. There's been so much hate, it's the most brutal thing I've seen in my life."

She added: "I actually didn't want to remove the comments because I wanted people to see that this type of thing still goes on."

Ms Elise is signed to the Universal Music Group label, the same as stars like Kanye West and Taylor Swift.

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