Richard Madeley issued an apology to Sam Smith on TV after using the wrong pronouns when talking about the singer.
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Smith has gone by the pronouns they/them since 2019 after revealing that they were non-binary. However, in a segment on this morning’s Good Morning Britain (January 30), Madeley referred to the ‘Unholy’ singer as he and him [as per the Independent].
Madeley and his co-host Susanna Reid were discussing the singer’s new music video for their song ‘I’m Not Here To Make Friends’, when Madeley mistakenly used the incorrect pronouns. Referencing a clip in the music video, Madeley said: “A shot of him, Sam.”
Reid was quick to respond: “Remember that Sam Smith uses the pronouns They!” Madeley already referring to Smith again by the wrong pronouns, caught himself and issued an apology, saying: “They, yes… sorry.”
It came the same morning as Smith’s latest work was discussed in a panel (see tweets below).
Smith recently talked about their experience with transphobia in the UK, admitting that they face more instances of public abuse at home than they do abroad.
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Smith sat down with Apple Music’s Zane Lowe for an exhaustive interview, during which they said: “I think the only negatives and the struggle[s] have been in my public life, and my job. Just the amount of hate, and shitness [sic] that came my way, was just exhausting. And it was really hard.”
'Madonna's done that and it wasn't on the TV in the morning, people weren't debating it in the same way.'
Shivani Dave says other music artists have released similar content before and Sam Smith is not the first. pic.twitter.com/LX9sWobwmr
— Good Morning Britain (@GMB) January 30, 2023
However, Smith also told Lowe about the more recent positives of their life, saying: “We’ve got two sides, really: my personal life and then my public life. And in my personal life, there’s not one negative.
“My family can communicate with me; they always did, but they communicate with me now in an even better way. My love life has become better from it – I feel loveable, I feel comfortable my skin, I wear what I want to wear.”
Smith released their fourth album ‘Gloria’ on Friday (January 27) via Capitol. It was supported by singles like ‘Love Me More’, ‘Unholy’ (featuring Kim Petras), and ‘Gimme’ (featuring Koffee and Jessie Reyez).
In a four-star review, NME’s Nick Levine described ‘Gloria’ as “the most surprising, satisfying and vital work of [Smith’s] career”, and declared that the singer “has never sounded better because they’ve never been more themselves”.