Lorraine Kelly Responds After Being Accused Of Misgendering Sam Smith

The daytime star spoke out after being accused of "lazy journalism" by one viewer.
Lorraine Kelly
Lorraine Kelly
Ken McKay/ITV/Shutterstock

Lorraine Kelly has spoken out after being accused of misgendering Sam Smith on her daytime show.

During Thursday’s edition of Lorraine, the presenter and guest Vogue Williams discussed the previous night’s Barbie premiere, and the outfits worn by stars on the pink carpet.

When it came to Sam Smith’s stand-out outfit, Lorraine was heard commenting: “It’s a bit big for him.

“If he was my son, I’d be saying, ‘Son, that’s too big for you.’... He’s going to stand out. He knows what he’s doing, does that fella.”

Lorraine’s remarks sparked a lot of conversation on Twitter, due to the fact that the Grammy-winning musician is non-binary and uses gender-neutral pronouns.

Sam Smith
Sam Smith
Mike Marsland via Getty Images

When one viewer accused Lorraine of “lazy journalism” by not “addressing Sam Smith with they/them pronouns” in a now-deleted tweet, the presenter quickly responded: “Fair comment… not in the least intentional but will take on board.”

“Thanks for bringing to my attention,” she added, alongside a heart emoji.

ITV had no additional comment when contacted by HuffPost UK.

The Stay With Me singer came out as non-binary in September 2019, saying at the time: “After a lifetime of being at war with my gender I’ve decided to embrace myself for who I am, inside and out.

“I’m so excited and privileged to be surrounded by people that support me in this decision but I’ve been very nervous about announcing this because I care too much about what people think but fuck it!”

They continued: “I understand there will be many mistakes and misgendering but all I ask is you please please try. I hope you can see me like I see myself now. Thank you.”

On the subject of pronouns and misgendering, Sam told Zane Lowe last year: “I just want to create a safe space for everyone. But also, we’re all learning together.

“The pronoun thing is interesting, because mistakes happen. Even me, I make mistakes quite a lot, and it’s an uncomfortable feeling making a mistake. Editing yourself is great, but I think it’s really good for people to see you mess up … and then correct yourself.”

Observing that “changes in language ... take time”, they shared: “We need to lean into the uncomfortable feeling of being wrong sometimes, because it’s okay… we’re all in it together.”

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