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Adele blasted for posing in Bantu knots and Jamaican flag bikini top, fans support singer 'we can't cancel her'

Adele shared a photo of her wearing a Jamaican flag bikini top and Bantu knots, a traditional African hairstyle for the Notting Hill Carnival whch being held virtually this year

Adele has inspired a series of memes and accusations of cultural appropriation with her latest Instagram post marking the canceled Notting Hill Carnival festivities.

The Grammy award winner shared a snap on August 30, 2020, as a tribute to London's annual Notting Hill Carnival, which was held online this year due to the coronavirus pandemic. The carnival celebrates the Caribbean and Black culture in the UK. In the photo, Adele wore a Jamaican flag bikini top and Bantu knots, a traditional African hairstyle. "Happy what would be Notting Hill Carnival my beloved London 🇬🇧🇯🇲," she captioned the post.

The 32-year-old singer's hairstyle posed a major concern for the people. As HuffPost's Dana Oliver notes, Bantu knots are said to have originated centuries ago with the Zulu tribes in southern Africa and are rooted in Black culture.

One angry user said, "Just to make things clear she’s FULLY WHITE and this is not okay it’s literally cultural appropriation," and "Adele sweetie.... you could’ve gone without the bantu knots." Another user said, "Adele is my QUEEN but she def knew better. She would have looked fine with her normal hairstyles.. You're not black or Jamaican so why.." Another one said it's a NO. "A British white celebrity context on straight hair and it’s something we’ve neverrrrrrrr seen her for before but go off. If y’all wanna snap to her defense today rock the style, I love Adele. But it’s a no for me AND for her."

Not just Twitter, people started slamming her on Instagram as well. As one user commented, "Dear white people, please just be yourselves and stop it for good with cultural appropriation. Adele the Bantu knots were unnecessary. The Jamaican flag bikini top was unnecessary... Please just stop it," another follower wrote."

But in no time, Adele's supporters came up in her defense. As one user commented, "This made me smile. It shows the impact my little island has on the whole world. How influential we truly are," and another one said, "WE LOVE SEEING OUR FLAG EVERYWHERE!!!!"

On Twitter, one user tweeted in her defense, "Nottinghill Carnival is a carnival to CELEBRATE Jamaican Culture and other black cultures in London. People from all races are welcome. This is EXACTLY the right place for Adele to dress like this. This is APPRECIATION not appropriation. Learn the difference you American c***s." "Man I’m loving watching the Jamaican people drag all these Americans who wanna use cancel culture to “cancel Adele” when the pic is from a festival celebrating Jamaican culture. Stop gatekeeping cultures that aren’t yours," defended another. Another one shielded her saying, "Black folks have to stop associating every damn thing with race. Get some culture, #Adele is doing something as a sign of respect, not only that... she’s actively participating in their culture, and she is enjoying it! How can you be mad at that? It sounds like race projection," and "Can we all JUST READ before we actually start criticising Adele. We could all collectively agree that Adele WOULD NEVER do something even partially disrespectful. We can’t cancel her."

And some meme lovers also tried to get in on the fun, as popular stand-up comedian Jaboukie Young-White posted a mock video captioned, "Adele's hairstylist waiting to go home," which featured a popular Spongebob meme wearing a rasta cap.

On August 29, 2020, the carnival’s executive director, Matthew Phillip, spoke to The Guardian about the significance of the event, despite it being held online.
“For more than 50 years carnival has been a statement that Black Lives Matter,” he said. “That’s normal practice for us, it’s not something that we’re just jumping on now because of the current global climate and what’s going on. Carnival has been making these statements for 50 years,” he added.