Jason Derulo, the “Talk Dirty” singer who apparently takes home décor very seriously, has spoken out about the eyebrow-raising (yet completely, totally normal) shark tank he’s installed in his living room floor.
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The 36-year-old “Swalla” singer recently gave YouTuber N3on a tour of his $15 million Tarzana, California home, where the pièce de résistance is a small circular shark and stingray tank embedded in his living room floor. The tank is covered with glass, allowing guests to casually stroll over the animals as they swim helplessly below.
Very chic. Very normal. Totally not Bond villain behavior.
Unsurprisingly, not everyone was charmed by Derulo’s aquatic flooring choice. The International Fund for Animal Welfare quickly made their feelings known. “Normalising the ownership of sharks in a domestic tank sends a damaging message to audiences around the world,” said IFAW’s Christian Plowman, via The Mirror.
“When celebrities and influencers with millions of followers treat wild animals as interior design features, the consequences reach far beyond their living rooms,” he added.
Turns out, some people just don’t appreciate avant-garde interior design at the expense of live animals. Reddit users were even more brutal.
“This is so sad, poor little shark,” one onlooker wrote under a thread about the small floor tank. “Shark(S). Multiple. In a kiddie-size swimming pool. I counted at least 3. Also stingrays. Terrible look,” a second Reddit user wrote.
“There’s not even anything enriching in there. My childhood goldfish had a better setup,” a third onlooker chimed in.
Jason Derulo Responds to Floor Shark Tank Criticism
However, the “Slow Low” singer recently admitted he took the criticism to heart.
Derulo, ever the defender of his finned roommates, told TMZ that his sharks are actually living larger than they did in the aquarium he bought them from. He also assured the outlet that he’s taking the criticism on board and is working on finding the best solution.
Whether Derulo will keep the sharks or rehome them remains unclear, despite his claims that they have more space than before.
One thing is certain, though… being walked over daily by party guests isn’t exactly the ocean life these sharks signed up for. Here’s hoping Derulo’s “best solution” involves a lot more water and a lot less foot traffic.