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Sky News anchor Rita Panahi has been slammed for misgendering pop star Sam Smith during an interview with a controversial YouTuber who claims to be ‘transracial’.
The host welcomed Oli London onto her show on Wednesday to discuss Smith – who is non-binary and uses they/them pronouns – and their recent video ‘I’m Not Here to Make Friends’.
While referring to Smith as non-binary, Panahi then immediately and repeatedly used ‘he’ when discussing the hitmaker.
The misgendering was ignored by London, who previously identified as trans and non-binary before announcing he was ‘happier living as a man’.
Sky News anchor Rita Panahi (left) has been slammed for misgendering Sam Smith during an interview with a controversial YouTuber Oli London (rihgt) who claims to be ‘transracial’
‘I want to ask you about Sam Smith, the non-binary artist Sam Smith and his music video which is available everywhere, to all ages,’ Panahi said on her Sky News show.
‘It’s for the song where he’s wearing his bedazzled corset, and heels and a tiara, and no bra.
‘He’s wearing nipple covers and doing all sorts of gyrating with both men and women and I’m sure some non-binary individuals.
‘And there’s also a golden shower scene, which is quite gross if you ask me. What do you make of this video and the message its sending to Sam’s young fans?’
The host welcomed Oli London onto her show on Wednesday to discuss Smith – who is nonbinary and uses they/them pronouns – and their recent video ‘I’m Not Here to Make Friends’ (pictured)
London, who was born to two white British parents, has previously had surgery to look like K-pop star Jimin and now claims to ‘be Korean’, slammed Smith for ‘bad messaging’ and ‘misrepresentation’ of the LGBTQ+ community.
‘When people look at the LGBT community, they think, “this is normal – urinating, having these golden showers in the music video, having these people in leather bondage writhing around on the bed”,’ he told the host.
‘We shouldn’t look at Sam Smith and think, “this is what all LGBT people are like”.
‘And I think YouTube should have a content restriction because why should a five or six-year-old have that recommended in their search engine when they’re on YouTube?
‘Why should they be exposed to something so sexual it should at least have an 18 plus rating?’
The comments come as fans jumped to Sam Smith’s defence after their new music video sparked outrage over its ‘hyper-sexualised’ scenes – arguing that it has been ‘going on for decades’
London previously identified as non-binary and used they/them pronouns, before coming out as a transwoman.
He then announced he was ‘detransitioning’ to a man and using his 64,000 follower to push anti-trans rhetoric and blaming ‘woke culture’ for his previous transition.
The aspiring influencer, 33, spent six months living as a woman, and underwent feminising facial surgery to soften his features before realising, he now says, that he was actually happier living as a man.
He has racked up many critics after claiming to be ‘transracial’ and spending more than $500,000 to look like Korean pop-stars.
Speaking to the UK’s Channel 4 last year, London insisted: ‘We all have the right to choose how we identify and choose who we want to be. I’m Korean and people need to accept that.’
The comments come as fans jumped to Sam Smith’s defence after their new music video sparked outrage over its ‘hyper-sexualised’ scenes – arguing that it has been ‘going on for decades’.
The singer, 30, released the ‘raunchy’ video last month, with critics calling for it to be age restricted on platforms such as YouTube due to its controversial content.
London, an aspiring influencer, spent six months living as a woman (pictured) and underwent feminising facial surgery to soften his features before realising, he now says, that he was actually happier living as a man
London pictured before his transition; he says stars who embrace their feminine side, such as Harry Styles, could leave impressionable teens thinking they’re transgender when they’re not
But fans have been quick to point out how similarly risqué videos have been released by global artists such as Frankie Goes to Hollywood’s Relax. Madonna‘s Like a Prayer, Miley Cyrus‘ Wrecking Ball and Queen’s I Want to Break Free.
Smith’s music video shows them arriving at a castle in a helicopter before dancing alongside a large number of performers wearing corsets, suspenders and nipple tassels, while at one point a fountain of water is seen being sprayed into the singer’s mouth.
Smith revealed last month they were spat at in the street after coming out as non-binary.
The Grammy winner changed their gender pronouns to they/them in 2019, and said they wish they had done it sooner but also opened up about the shocking backlash.
Speaking to Zane Lowe on Apple Music’s Beats 1 in 2020, Smith said they feared they will be misgendered ‘until the day they die’.
‘What’s hard is people changing their vocabulary; that’s very, very difficult. It takes time. Everyone messes up. I’m going to be misgendered to the day I die,’ he said.
‘This is going to take a long, long time for people to not use gender in their vocabulary.’
