Sia is protective of Maddie Ziegler. The singer opened up about her relationship with the 17-year-old dancer -- whom she's worked with for years after Ziegler starred in Sia's 2014 "Chandelier" music video -- claiming she stopped her from getting on a plane with Harvey Weinstein.
"As soon as I met Maddie, I felt extreme desire to protect her and I think that it was part of my own healing," Sia confessed during an interview on the Zach Sang Show, published this week. "I felt just extreme compulsion to protect her, and yet the irony is that I didn't want to be famous and I threw this child into the spotlight. And she would say to me, 'Don't be silly. I was already famous and I wanted to be famous.'"
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"And I 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,'" she continued. "She said, 'No, I just love performing. I love dancing and I love acting so much.' And 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."
The GRAMMY winner then claimed that she "kept her off a plane that Harvey Weinstein tried to get her on."
"When he invited her, I told [Ziegler's mom] Melissa, I just said, 'Please don't, do not do that, do not do that, do not do that,'" she recalled. "I just try and help guide."
Earlier this year, the former Hollywood producer was sentenced to 23 years in prison after being found guilty of rape in the third degree and of criminal sexual assault in the first degree. Accusations by dozens of women in 2017 destroyed his career and gave rise to #MeToo, the global movement to hold powerful men accountable for their sexual misconduct.
Sia also noted that she feels "terrible shame" for throwing Maddie, a former Dance Moms star, into a bigger spotlight.
"I wasn't conscious at the time. I had no idea 'Chandelier' was going to be so massive. I just had no idea then she would blow up and be this famous little teenager," Sia explained. "But I've taken responsibility for it in as much as that I provide her security. That's the most I can do really and that I'm always here for her if she wants to cry or has a bad day or has questions about life -- that's what I'm here for."
Sia and Ziegler's next project is Sia's upcoming film Music.
The "Cheap Thrills" singer, meanwhile, recently revealed that she became a grandmother after adopting two 18-year-old sons.
"My youngest son just had two babies," she revealed on Zane Lowe's Apple Music show this week. "I'm just immediately horrified. No, I'm cool. They call me 'Nana.' I'm trying to get them to call me 'Lovey,' like Kris [Jenner]. I'm like, 'Call me Lovey.'"
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