|
Adams, who first became a global star in 1984
with hits including "Summer of '69" and "Heaven", made the
comments in the caption of an Instagram post on Monday when he
addressed the cancellation of his 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 Canadian National Council for Social
Justice, told the Canadian Broadcasting Corp that the singer's
comments were "just so, so, so, so racist."
In his apology, also posted on Instagram, Adams said he had no
excuse, he "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."
Many researchers believe that the virus originated from a wet
market in Wuhan, China, although a theory that the virus emerged
from a lab in Wuhan has gained ground in recent weeks.
The Chinese state-backed Wuhan Institute of Virology has
dismissed the allegations.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has said evidence suggest
the novel coronavirus originated in animals, "most likely" in
bats before spreading to humans through an intermediate animal
host, and that there is no evidence to suggest it was created by
humans.
Countries around the world have seen an uptick in racist attacks
against people of Asian descent as fear and anger around the
novel coronavirus increase.
Last month Canadian apparel 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."
(Reporting by Moira Warburton in Toronto, editing by Steve
Scherer and Lisa Shumaker)
[© 2020 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2020 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.
|
|
