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Canadian singer Bryan Adams apologized Tuesday for a social media post blaming the “coronavirus” for “eating bats, selling animals on the wet market, making greedy greedy bastards.”
Adams, who first became a world star in 1984 with hits like “Summer of ’69” and “Heaven,” made the comments in the title of an Instagram post on Monday when she addressed the cancellation of her concerts at the Royal Albert Hall in London due to COVID-19.
Born in Kingston, Ontario, Adams currently lives in London and is a vegan.
The post was widely condemned on social media and Amy Go, president of the Chinese National Council of Canada for Social Justice, told Canadian Broadcasting Corp that the singer’s comments were “so, so, so, so racist.”
In his apology, also posted on Instagram, Adams said he had no excuse, that he “just wanted to complain about the horrible animal cruelty in these wet markets as the possible source of the virus and promote veganism.”
Many researchers believe the virus originated from a wet market in Wuhan, China, although the theory that the virus emerged from a laboratory in Wuhan has gained traction in recent weeks.
The Wuhan Institute of Virology, backed by the Chinese state, has dismissed the allegations.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has said that the evidence suggests that the new coronavirus originated in animals, “most likely” in bats before it spread to humans through an intermediate animal host, and that there is no evidence that suggest that it was created by humans.
Countries around the world have seen an increase in racist attacks against people of Asian descent as fear and anger surrounding the new coronavirus increases.
Last month, Canadian clothing company Lululemon Athletica Inc apologized after one of its art directors promoted the sale of a T-shirt online under the name “bat fried rice.”
