Bryan Adams, the Canadian singer who saw mainstream success with songs like “Everything I Do (I Do It For You)” and “Summer of '69,” is apologizing for comments he made about the coronavirus.
CNN reported Adams made an Instagram post on Monday in which he sang his song "Cuts Like A Knife." On that day, Adams wrote in the post caption, he was supposed to start a string of performances at Royal Albert Hall in London. Those dates have been rescheduled to April 2021.
"Tonight was supposed to be the beginning of a tenancy of gigs at the @royalalberthall, but thanks to some ... bat eating, wet market animal selling, virus making greedy (expletive), the whole world is now on hold, not to mention the thousands that have suffered or died from this virus."
Adams also called for those he blamed for the pandemic to “go vegan.”
“To all the people missing out on our shows, I wish I could be there more than you know,” he continued. “It’s been great hanging out in isolation with my children and family, but I miss my other family, my band, my crew and my fans. Take care of yourselves and hope we can get the show on the road again soon. I’ll be performing a snippet from each album we were supposed to perform for the next few days.”
The same post was made on Twitter and has since been deleted. The Instagram post has remained up but the comments have been turned off.
The singer's comments are inaccurate in nature and also considered stereotypical at best, especially in wake of an increase in anti-Asian racism. NBC News reported that scientists have said the similarities between COVID-19 and known coronaviruses in animals, including bats, rule out conspiracy theories that the virus was made in a lab.
The first reported human cases of COVID-19 were reported in China and the World Health Organization has said evidence suggests the novel coronavirus originated with animals before spreading to humans through an intermediate host. The specific animal has not been identified.
Adams comments were widely criticized. He became a trending topic on Twitter.
On Tuesday, Adams made another Instagram post. In it, he included a video of himself performing and included an apology in the post caption.
“Apologies to any and all that took offence to my posting yesterday,” he wrote. “No excuse, I just wanted to have a rant about the horrible animal cruelty in these wet-markets being the possible source of the virus, and promote veganism. I have love for all people and my thoughts are with everyone dealing with this pandemic around the world.”
Some comments criticized his apology, considering it a “non-apology.” Others said there was no reason for Adams to be sorry for what he said.
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