Shawn Mendes apologises for misgendering Sam Smith; Says ‘I’m so sorry, it absolutely slipped my mind’

iHeartRadio Jingle Ball 2020 kicked off on December 10 with a star-studded lineup and Sam Smith's heart-touching rendition of Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas has made everyone emotional. Sam Smith also performed Dancing with Stranger. But Sam Smith fans are slamming Wonder singer Shawn Mendes who performed before Sam Smith before introducing the singer using wrong pronouns. Sam Smith’s preferred pronouns are ‘they/them’ but Mendes kept calling In the Lonely Hour singer as ‘he/him.’

Fans are accusing iHeartRadio of promoting transphobia, stating if all the shows are prerecorded, how did nobody catch it and corrected the singer to use the correct pronouns. Many took it to Twitter to express outrage over misgendering a singer who has been open about his gender identities and slammed iHeartRadio for negligence. A fan wrote on Twitter, “So no one was gonna tell Shawn Mendes that Sam Smith’s pronouns are they/them and they just let him refer to them as “he” like 5 times????” 

Fans also said iHeartRadio should take responsibility for the situation. A user pointed out, “it probably wasn’t intentional, but iheartradio should have made shawn re-record it, same with lilnasx because he did it too.” To which a user replied, “Imagine stating how much you love them and all that but then misgender them the entire time.” An outraged fan stated, “it was prerecorded and no one caught him misgendering them??? Wtf???” 

Now, Shawn Mendes has issued an apology to this. “Oh @samsmith I’m so sorry for referring to you as a ‘he’ for your jingle ball introduction,” Mendes wrote on his Instagram Story on December 11. “It absolutely slipped my mind. Wont happen again … Sending you so much love! Also you absolutely are one of the funniest people I’ve ever met!” Smith has not replied to Mendes. 

ALSO READ: Camila Cabello on being in love with Shawn Mendes: Sometimes, it’s messy and uncomfortable and ugly