'I am so sorry. I will learn to do that.'
Richard Madeley was forced to apologise and has vowed to "learn" to use people’s correct pronouns after a series of blunders on Monday (30 January) over Sam Smith's latest music video.
Smith has sparked fierce debate over the music video for their track 'I'm Not Here To Make Friends' and the ITV morning programme played a number of clips from the release.
The 30-year-old's latest single sees them dancing provocatively in corsets, suspenders and nipple tassels.
Introducing the segment, Madeley made an initial mistake as he referred to Smith, who uses they/them pronouns, as "he".
His co-host, Susanna Reid, had to interject to remind Madeley of his error, prompting him to apologise.
Later on in the show, as the panel discussed whether the music video was over-sexualised, Madeley made the same mistake after guest Shivani Dave commented on the promo.
He said of Shivani: "Do you think she's got a point?"
The guest then had to inform Madeley that they also use they/them pronouns.
Madeley then apologised for a second time, stating: "I am so sorry. I will learn to do that."
https://twitter.com/CommonSenceUK/status/1619974317760200705
Smith announced they were non-binary in 2019 and asked that people use they/them pronouns when referring to them.
Speaking to Zane Lowe on Apple Music 1, Smith revealed that while there have been no issues with their new gender identity in their personal life, they had experienced harassment and abuse on the streets of England since coming out.
They explained: "I think all the only negatives in the struggle have been in my public life and my job. And just the amount of hate and s***tness that came my way was just exhausting.
"It was in the f***ing news. Someone spat at me in the street. It's crazy. What I find hard about it is it's like, if that's happening to me and I'm famous, I'm a pop star, can you imagine what other kids, like queer kids are feeling?
"And it's just so sad that we're in 2023 and it's still happening. It's exhausting and especially in England."
