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Adele has faced accusations of cultural appropriation after sharing an Instagram photo showing her sporting a traditional African hairstyle while marking what would have been the Notting Hill Carnival.
In the photo, the chart-topping 32-year-old actress wore a string bikini decorated with the Jamaican flag and had her hair in Bantu knots, small twisted buns typically associated with people of African descent.
The Tottenham-born singer captioned the post: “Happy what would be the Notting Hill Carnival, my beloved London.”
However, Adele was quickly accused by Twitter users, many of them American, of cultural appropriation for wearing the hairstyle.
One tweeted: “If 2020 couldn’t get any stranger, Adele is giving us Bantu knots and cultural appropriation that no one asked for. This officially marks all of the major white pop women as troublesome. I hate to see it. “
Another said: “If you haven’t understood cultural appropriation well, check out Adele’s latest post on Instagram. She should go to jail without parole for this. “
In the comment section of the Instagram post, one user said, “Whites must NOT wear Bantu knots in any context, period.”
However, others came to Adele’s defense. David Lammy, a Labor MP for Tottenham and a shadow justice secretary, dismissed the accusations of cultural appropriation as “nonsense.”
He tweeted: “This hoax totally misses the spirit of Notting Hill Carnival and the tradition of ‘dress up’ or ‘masquerade’ Adele was born and raised in Tottenham and succeeds more than most. Thanks Adele. Forget the haters. “
Claudia Webbe, a Labor MP from Leicester East, said: “Carnival is a controversial event where either the usual order of things is overthrown, upset and disturbed, or it can restore and reinforce the very order that it is supposed to overthrow. In this sense, Adele embraces the spirit of carnival as an event that is qualified to do both. “
The singer’s famous friends also seemed to approve of the look. Model Naomi Campbell, whose mother was born in Jamaica, commented with two love heart emojis and two images of the Jamaican flag.
Jamaican musician Popcaan also appeared to be a fan, sharing a fist emoji and a love heart. And actress Tessa Thompson, who stars in the sci-fi TV series Westworld, commented with a flame emoji.
Notting Hill Carnival is an annual event that celebrates black culture, but this year it moved to the internet due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Adele recently shared a snapshot celebrating “Queen” Beyonce, following the release of the visual album Black Is King. Adele was photographed with her curly hair down while raising her hand in tribute to Beyonce.
