Australian TV Host Apologizes to Adele for Not Listening to ’30’ Before Interview

Simon Emmett*

Weekend Sunrise host Matt Doran has issued a very public, on-air apology to Adele after he seemingly showed up unprepared for an interview with her about new album 30.

Last weekend, it was reported that the Australian Channel 7 news reporter admitted to Adele that he hadn’t listened to 30 — which has captured the biggest week of 2021 for any album in the U.S. —  prior to their chat, and as a result Sony withheld their interview footage.

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“This is a story that has sparked a torrent of abuse and mockery from around the world and, if I’m being honest with you, the bulk of this savaging, I deserve and I totally own,” Doran said on the show this weekend, speaking to Adele and Weekend Sunrise‘s viewers. “I flew to London to interview Adele, an unspeakable privilege and what was to be one of the highlights of my career. I made the terrible mistake of assuming we weren’t to be given a preview copy of this album because our interview was airing before it was released, and Adele’s album was the industry’s most prized secret.”

He explained, “The day after, after we landed in London, an email came through from Sony. It didn’t mention Adele but it did contain a link to her album. The genuine, dead-set, hand-on-heart truth is that I missed it, by an absurdly long margin, the most important email I’ve ever missed in my life.”

In his apology, which had him addressing the topic for more than two minutes, Doran described how the sit-down with Adele had gone, from his perspective.

“The interview itself: Adele didn’t walk out,” he clarified. “It ran overtime. At least half of the interview focused squarely on the new music, that I thought it was reductive to describe it as simply being about divorce, that it was about empowerment and what inspired people to summon the courage to steer their lives in a new direction. We spoke of the paradox that is being the world’s most famous artist but hating fame. We also discussed at length the concept of pure artistry, the majesty of Adele’s voice, what it must be like to hear that sound come out of one’s own mouth, how ‘Easy on Me’ was conceived in part by singing a capella in the shower, and how the album helped repair her relationship, towards the end, with her now late father. Throughout the 29 minutes, Adele was profound, she was funny, she was raw and then she was honest — honest enough to describe her depression as ‘end of the world stuff.'”

Doran said, “But all that doesn’t matter. Because by missing the album link, however I might try to justify it, I’ve insulted Adele. To Adele, I say, I’d never have knowingly disrespected you by deliberately not listening to your work. I am so sorry. I also apologize to Adele’s Australian fans, and to you, our viewers, who through my error, have been denied this interview and the insight into her character.”

“Adele, track 10, ‘Hold On,’ in the bridge after the second chorus, you write that ‘sometimes forgiveness is easiest in secret.’ I’m not expecting that forgiveness. But I do owe you an apology,” he concluded.

Watch the apology in full below.