28-year-old Sam Smith came out as genderqueer in September 2019 and announced to use they/them pronouns.
The superstar attended iHeartRadio festive special last Thursday, where they were introduced as “he” by Shawn Mendes, 22. Shawn later realized his mistake and apologized publicly, admitting that the pronouns slipped his mind and he won’t repeat this mistake ever again.
The 22-year-old singer shared a humble apology for introducing Smith as ‘he’ while calling them for jingle ball introduction.
He also added that Smith is one of the funniest people he had ever met. Smith was kind enough to accept the apology, and they shared Shawn’s message on their social media account with the caption, “We all are learning together. Happy holidays, and lots of love!”
Shawn and Smith both performed at the iHeartRadio holiday special on Thursday night. Shawn used masculine pronouns for the non-binary singer while introducing their performances, saying ‘his new album’ and ‘he is one of the sweetest people.
’ The error caught the attention of thousands of social media users, and they suggested that Shawn must apologize for the mistake as they are sure he must not have done it deliberately.
LGBTQ+ organizations also suggest that you must correct yourself and apologize if you accidentally use wrong pronouns for a person. Even after the apology, some fans were not happy; They said that the organizers must have corrected the mistake before airing as the show was pre-recorded.
Smith, a Grammy and Oscar winner, in September 2019 via their Instagram post, announced that they are non-binary.
They wrote a lengthy caption that says they’ll change their pronouns to “they/them.” The singer said it was not an easy battle, but they had finally embraced themself for who they are. They also said many people had rendered their selfless support, but still, there are a large majority of people who have no acceptability for the trans community.
Smith said life had gone easier after they had revealed their gender, and it is a beautiful feeling to accept yourself the way you are.