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Good Morning Britain presenter Richard Madeley apologizes after experiencing pronoun misuse while debating a music video by nonbinary Sam Smith on Monday’s episode of the show. The talk show saw the 66-year-old and his co-anchor discussing the controversies surrounding the video, which many deem overly sexualized and unsuitable for specific age groups. Others have accused the singer of normalizing porn with the content of his video.
Richard Madeley Apologizes for Using Wrong Pronoun During Sam Smith Debate
Bringing this debate to the GMB screens, Richard Madeley accidentally referred to the openly nonbinary star Sam Smith with the pronoun “he” while discussing the overly-sexualized scenes. His co-host, Susana Reid, quickly jumped in to correct the misgendering, offering him the proper pronoun. He apologized for the misuse immediately.
The host apologized again when a guest informed him they also went by the same pronouns during the panel discussion. Richard Madeley also promised to learn to use the correct pronouns in the future. Notably, the 30-year-old has gone by the pronouns they/them since 2019.
Debate About Sam Smith’s Music Video Still On
The discussions leading to the Richard Madeley misgendering saga stemmed from the music video of I’m Not Here to Make Friends by Sam Smith. The track, part of his long-anticipated album, Gloria featured content that left concerned netizens calling for YouTube age restrictions. Many have described the music video as “monstrous” and “degrading,” noting that it in no way represented art.
The video featured some questionable scenes. These include those showing the singer dancing provocatively in corsets, nipple tassels, and suspenders while surrounded by other similarly-dressed exotic dancers. Despite some tracks from Sam’s album topping Billboard’s Hot 100, I’m Not Here To Make Friends has faced major outrage.
Meanwhile, many have come forward to defend the latest music video by Sam Smith. They argue that it was empowering in some way and celebrated the LGBTQ community. Others also pointed out that female hitmakers have released such explicit content in the past with no backlash, suggesting people’s criticism of the Unholy hitmaker stemmed from the video’s queer imagery rather than morals.