The shutdowns brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic have severely affected singer Bryan Adams, who launched an expletive-laden rant against China on Monday in response to the cancelation of his concert residency at Royal Albert Hall in London.
In an Instagram post, Adams shared an acoustic version of his song “Cuts Like a Knife” and used the moment to rip into “bat eating, wet market animal selling, virus making greedy bastards” for shutting down the world
“Tonight was supposed to be the beginning of a tenancy of gigs at the [Royal Albert Hall] but thanks to some f***ing bat eating, wet market animal selling, virus making greedy bastards, the whole world is now on hold, not to mention the thousands that have suffered or died from this virus. My message to them other than ‘thanks a f***ing lot’ is 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.”
Various theories have been circulating about COVID-19’s origins since the start of the pandemic. Though initially it was believed that the virus originated in a wet market in Wuhan, China – where wild and exotic animals are sold for consumption – evidence has emerged in recent days that the virus may have escaped a Wuhan research lab, though no definitive conclusion has been made.
The Guardian outlined the timeline of contradicting theories:
A number of the earliest cases of the disease were found in people who had frequented a wet market in Wuhan, which sells fresh meat and seafood, leading to fears that meat bought there could have been the source.
However, numerous other early cases were in people who didn’t frequent the market. This is one of the factors that have led others to suggest that the virus came from one of two Wuhan laboratories studying coronavirus in bats, either in a man-made form or via a lapse in the biosecurity of animal specimens. Donald Trump and members of his administration have pushed this theory, though the scientific community has near-unanimously rejected the idea it could have been manmade. It is not even clear if Wuhan is the area where the virus originally transferred from animals to humans, and there is still no scientific consensus on the source of the outbreak.
On social media, trolls largely denounced Bryan Adams as a racist for condemning China and its cultural practices.
“You might have just lost 99% of the ppl who would have bought tickets for your shows, but fear not, you’ll still have your racist friends sticking by you and calling you a legend…like Katie Hopkins.. All is not lost..except your reputation, and career,” said one Twitter user.
“Guess I’ll never listen to another Bryan Adams song again. Racist P.O.S,” said another user.
“[Bryan Adams] just burnt his entire legacy to the ground with one post. I grew up listening to the guy, my mother and aunts were obsessed. Shame. A real damn shame,” tweeted another.
Celebrities from Paul McCartney to Bill Maher to even Queen’s Brian May have blamed the COVID-19 pandemic on people eating bats.
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