Nick Kyrgios has taken aim at Sam Smith after they used the term "fisherthem" as opposed to "fisherman" - and fans are rallying around the singer.
During an interview on the BBC's The One Show, the 30-year-old 'Unholy' singer (who uses they/them pronouns) spoke about their hobby - fishing.
Host Ronan Keating asked Smith: "You’re a big fan of fishing?"
Smith replied: "I do love fishing, yes. I’d love to be a fisherthem."
Another host asked: "What, like a fly fisherman?"
Smith then proceeded to correct the host, saying: "I'd be any type of fisherthem. I think I would like to, one day, I'd just like to end my days fishing. Like sitting on a bank."
Check out the moment below:The 'Stay With Me' hitmaker's use of the term "fisherthem" has sparked a real debate online, with some ridiculing the gender-inclusive term and others rallying around the Grammy winner.
One of the naysayers was Australian tennis star Nick Kyrgios, who took to his Instagram Stories to share a clip of the moment. Kyrgios captioned the post: "This is so cringe bro I can't," alongside a laughing emoji, per the Daily Mail.
However, the 27-year-old sportsman's comments weren't taken well by a number of netizens who took to Facebook to defend Smith and call out their critics.
One person wrote: "Love it. Sam can use whatever terms they like, Nick is the one attention seeking here."
Another penned: "It is bizarre. How on earth does Sam’s throwaway comment affect Nick? Oh that’s right, it doesn’t."
A third added: "Don't really see the issue with Sam using fisherthem. It's amazing how so many are so upset by it."
Smith came out as non-binary back in 2019 during an appearance on Jameela Jamil's Instagram series I Weight.
Sam stated at the time: "You do not identify in a gender. You are just you… you are your own special creation. That is how I take it ... I’ve always had a little bit of a war going within my body and my mind. I do think like a woman sometimes, in my head.
"Sometimes I’ve questioned ‘Do I want a sex change?’ and it’s something I still think about, like: ‘Do I want to?’ But I don’t think it is. When I saw the words ‘non-binary’ and ‘genderqueer’ and I read into it and I heard these people speaking, I was like ‘F**k, that’s me.’"
They added: "Non-binary genderqueer is that you do not identify in a gender. You are a mixture of different things, you are your own special creation. That’s how I take it. I’m not male or female, I think I flow somewhere in between.
"It’s all on the spectrum ... I’ve been with too many straight men to know that not everyone who says they are straight is fully straight. You fall in love with people, not genitals ... maybe I’m not a woman, maybe I’m just me and maybe that’s ok."
