Actress and singer Chloe Bailey spoke on the Tamron Hall Show on Friday, opening up about her mental health battle with depression and the controversy behind her role on Prime Video’s latest series, Swarm. Along with family and friends, the 24-year-old revealed that music helped her navigate her depression.
“You have your ups, and you have your downs; it’s never going to be a steady course,” the “Treat Me” singer said. “But at least I feel confident enough in knowing that this life was worth living for.”
Bailey said she went further and deleted social apps from her phone.
“I got rid of my social media because I realized the things people were saying, the negative things that people were saying about me, they were affecting me,” she said.
The Swarm actress also commented on the racy sex scene that has recently caused a stir in the media. The Donald Glover-directed project and psychological horror series, Swarm, follows Dominique Fishback’s character Andrea “Dre” Greene’s unhealthy obsession with her favorite R&B star.
The explicit sex scene appears between Dre’s sister, Marissa — played by Bailey, and her boyfriend, Khalid — played by Snowfall actor Damson Idris, in the first few minutes of the first episode. The scene shows Dre watching the pair having sex, which Khalid notices, before smiling and nodding at her without stopping.
Many viewers expressed their distaste for the scene, finding it graphic and unnecessary to the plot, taking to Twitter to criticize Bailey.
25M views on the disgusting sex scene with Chloe and Damson. People are watching it like it's p*rn, but we are puritanical for saying that explicit sex scenes are unnecessary and that Chloe shouldn't have done it ? Okay
— Princess S (@Princesse_S_) March 19, 2023
We honestly didn’t need to see Chloe get the back shots tho. Lol they could a been making out or sumthin 🤷🏾♀️ #Swarm
— Lauren Speed (@Need4LSpeed) March 24, 2023
This scandal comes on the heels of another controversial career decision fans were blasting her for — the choice to collaborate musically with Chris Brown.
“I’m an actress. I was doing my job and people kinda gotta remember I’m an adult and I’m an artist and nothing was seen that they haven’t seen from me,” she told Big Boy TV.
Bailey shared with Hall that it was more about what she could bring to the role.
“I was like, You know what, what can I take from Chloe, the soul of Chloe and the heart of Chloe, and put into this character?” she said. “It’s always different to see me in that light, but that’s what acting is all about.”
Her debut album, In Pieces, dropped last month. Additionally, you can catch all episodes of Swarm, available now on Prime Video.
