Adele in storm over her African hairstyle
Slimline Adele under fire for ‘cultural appropriation’
HER dramatic weight loss has already set tongues wagging – and now Adele has been drawn into a cultural appropriation row after sharing a photo of herself in a bikini top with a Jamaican flag and a traditional African hairstyle.
The singer, 32, wore her hair in Bantu knots – small coiled buns – along with bright yellow feathers during what would have been Notting Hill Carnival weekend.
The Tottenham-born star, known for her hits Hello and Someone Like You, posted the picture for her 38.7million followers on Instagram.
She captioned the image: ‘Happy what would be Notting Hill Carnival my beloved London.’
But her tribute was accused of ‘cultural appropriation’ – the practice of adopting elements of a minority culture.
Journalist Ernest Owens, who is black, said: ‘If 2020 couldn’t get any more bizarre, Adele is giving us Bantu knots and cultural appropriation that nobody asked for.
‘This officially marks all of the top white women in pop as problematic. Hate to see it.’ One social media user commented: ‘Bantu knots are NOT to be worn by white people in any context, period.’ Another user named Kenisha even said: ‘If you haven’t quite understood cultural appropriation, look at Adele’s last Instagram post. She should go to jail no parole for this.’
But the Grammy award-winning singer was supported by a host of celebrities and public figures.
Supermodel Naomi Campbell, whose mother was born in Jamaica, commented with two love heart emoji icons and two pictures of the country’s flag.
Labour MP for Tottenham David Lammy tweeted: ‘Poppycock! This humbug totally misses the spirit of Notting Hill Carnival and the tradition of “dress up” or “masquerade”. Adele was born and raised in Tottenham, she gets it more than most. Thank you Adele. Forget the haters.’
And actress Tessa Thompson, who stars in sci-fi TV series Westworld, commented with a flame emoji – signifying approval for something that is ‘on fire’.
Adele, who now lives in LA, is yet to respond to the criticism.
Notting Hill Carnival attracts more than one million revellers each year. It usually occurs on the Sunday and Monday of August bank holiday but had to be axed this year due to the coronavirus pandemic. In its place there were events online.
Adele has been more active on social media since her recent weight loss – reported to be as much as seven stone.
She is said to be on a 1,000-calories-a-day diet, having taken up circuit training, boxing and reformer Pilates, which involves using an exercise machine to improve posture and flexibility. She wrote on Instagram last month that reading a memoir by American motivational blogger Glennon Doyle made her feel as if she ‘flew into her body for the very first time’.
She recommended Untamed: Stop Pleasing, Start Living to her followers, saying that before she read the book: ‘I thought we were meant to be stressed and dishevelled, confused and selfless like a Disney character.’
Adele, who last year split from husband Simon Konecki, with whom she has son Angelo, seven, also recently posted a snap celebrating ‘Queen’ Beyonce, following the release of the US singer’s visual album Black Is King.
Adele was pictured with her curly hair down while raising her hand in tribute to Beyonce.
‘Forget the haters’