Matchbox 20’s lead singer Rob Thomas has apologised for an insensitive joke made during his solo Melbourne show on Saturday, in which he said “I keep drinking until I think I’m a black Australian”.
The poorly worded joke immediately drew the ire of many Indigenous Australians, include country music singer Troy Cassar-Daley who tweeted “Rob Thomas always came across as a smart Bloke to me, I guess I was wrong”, and rapper Briggs:
So @thegame gets denied entry to Aus. But @ThisIsRobThomas can stand in front of 14k people and dismiss it's Indig. population as drunks?
— BRIGGS AKA BIG SIGH (@BriggsGE) February 21, 2016
On Sunday the singer of Smooth, Lonely No More and Her Diamonds took to Facebook to explain the joke, which he said was not about race: “I said I drank until I thought I was Australian. Then I drank so much that I thought I was a black Australian and then I drank so much I thought I was a little Australian girl.
“These were 3 things I chose at random to represent 3 things I’m not. I’m not Australian. I’m not black and I’m not a little girl.”
Thomas said that had he known there was a “connection between the indigenous peoples of Australia and a stereotype involving drinking” he would have chosen another example.
“I was so ignorant to the situation that when I heard people groan I actually thought THEY were being racist. I didn’t know until TODAY that just the phrase ‘black Australian’ was racist all on it’s own. (sic)
“I sat in my room and I cried when I found out.”
Thomas said he was “truly sorry” for how the joke was delivered, “most of all to the indigenous people here”. He said he felt embarrassed he didn’t know more about Australian history and culture and would use this tour as an opportunity to change that.
Thomas organised through Twitter to meet Indigenous photographer Barbara McGrady in Sydney. In a prior Facebook post Thomas said he had been a “fervent supporter of civil rights” for the past 20 years.
He will play Canberra on Monday, followed by shows around the country including Adelaide’s Clipsal 500 on 6 March.
