Simon-Roberts on Radio Host Matt Siegel Controversy: Boston 25
Communications Studies Scholar-in-Residence and pop culture and media expert Sharifa Simon-Roberts weighed in about morning show radio host Matt Siegel’s comments this week regarding singer Demi Lovato’s announcement identifying as non-binary to Boston 25.
The longtime host for Kiss 108’s “Matty in the Morning” program was told by radio management to stop talking about the topic after saying, among other comments, “And by the way, it’s a joke. The whole binary thing. I don’t care what Demi Lovato does. But now you have to worry about you might offend someone…” .
Simon-Roberts said:
When someone tells you what pronoun they are using you have to respect that. [Celebrities] are teaching us so much about the identity and encouraging us to have multi layered conversations and I think that is invaluable in society.
We want to make sure that we are seeing people and recognizing who they are and if you do not know someone’s pronouns, it makes sense to ask because at the end of the day that’s a deeply personal topic and expression of who they are at their core.
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