SZA buys balloon sculpture after online critic dares buyers to pay up
SZA has bought a balloon sculpture by artist Adam Nassih after stepping into an online row about his work.
She revealed the piece in an Instagram carousel shared on Thursday, Oct. 15. A carousel is a single post that holds several photos or clips for followers to swipe through. In that post she set out in her own words how the exchange unfolded, as reported by Billboard. The report on Oct. 15 is the most recent published account of what happened.
The row began with a commenter criticising Nassih's balloon animal sculptures. That person challenged other people to buy the work. The same person offered to match a purchase with one of their own. In plain terms, the dare was pay up if you rate it, and I will pay too.
SZA said she saw those remarks and answered in public. She said she asked Nassih for his most expensive piece. She tagged the commenter, which names and alerts another account on the platform, to call the bluff. The tag meant the challenger would see the reply directly.
That request pointed to the top end of Nassih's work. It was public. It left little room for backtracking.
She did not end up buying the priciest work. She bought a smaller sculpture instead. No price was given in the account shared from the carousel. The sale still went ahead, with a different piece changing hands.
The carousel showed the sculpture on display for followers to see. Nassih is the maker behind the piece SZA now holds. The post tied the object back to the online exchange that led to the sale.
Her caption put her view in one line. "Being a hater gets expensive, ain't it?" she wrote. The line referred directly to the exchange over Nassih's work.
It is still unclear whether the commenter kept to the other half of the dare. There is no confirmation that a matching purchase went ahead, according to Billboard. That part of the story has not been confirmed in the published account. No follow-up confirmation had been published as of that Oct. 15 report.
What makes this stand out is simple. A challenge meant to test support ended with a sale. One thread of criticism ended with a sculpture finding a new owner.
