This Morning viewers hit out online after Bob Geldof repeatedly misgendered Sam Smith on Wednesday.
Dun Laoghaire native Bob, 71, annoyed viewers as he continued to refer to the the non-binary singer as 'he', The Mirror reports. Other viewers found fault in the fact that Band Aid hero was not corrected by hosts Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield for his mistake.
Bob appeared on the show as a guest to discuss a variety of topics, including the sad death of his Boomtown Rats bandmate Garry Roberts and the impact Band Aid has had over the years. The political activist also discussed the upcoming 40th anniversary of Band Aid when he mentioned Sam Smith and their part in the song which was released back in 2014.
However, Bob repeatedly misgendered the Unholy hit-maker - who identifies as non-binary and has asked people to use the pronouns 'they/them' when being addressed in both the media and in their personal life. Appearing on This Morning, Bob said: "Sam Smith, I remember him at the microphone had his eyes closed, and he was singing away to the song, and I said 'Sam, they're not the words'. He goes, 'oh yeah, sorry'.
"Because we had re-written the words for I think the Ebola crisis in west Africa. And he says 'sorry', so off he goes, he closes his eyes again and he starts singing the original words.
"I said 'Sam', and he goes 'oh yes, sorry, every year in school I have to sing this song'". Phil, Holly and Bob share a laugh before Holly says: "It's go engrained".
Bob's misgender error didn't go unnoticed as This Morning viewers shared their disappointment at Phil and Holly for not correcting him. "Holly and Phil should have pulled him up on that. Ridiculous," one fumed.
"He's on national TV and speaking about Sam Smith. You'd think someone would brief him on Sam's gender identity or at least correct him. Painful watch," another echoed.
"Sorry but why didn't Holly or Phillip tell Bob he was misgendering Sam Smith," someone else questioned. While a fourth tweeted: "Disappointed to hear Bob Geldof misgendering Bob to be honest. People need to get with the times."
The Mirror has contacted Bob's representatives for comment.
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