Adele says she ‘didn’t read the f**king room’ before posting scandalous photo

Adele caused uproar when she posted this photo last year, and now the singer has finally addressed the scandal.

Adele is breaking her silence over one of last year’s most viral examples of cultural appropriation.

During London’s Notting Hill Carnival in September 2020, the pop star shared a much-anticipated new image after her reported 45kg weight loss — at a time when Adele had all but disappeared from the spotlight for more than a year.

Unfortunately, the long-awaited update was overshadowed by her … um, enthusiasm for the festival. Rather than celebrate the occasion alongside fellow Brits of Caribbean descent, she went fullbore with a Jamaican flag-print bikini and bantu knots in her hair, a style worn traditionally by black women in the region.

“I didn’t read the f**king room,” she told British Vogue in a new interview for their November issue. In hindsight, she said, she “totally” understands why a backlash occurred.

Adele caused uproar when she posted this photo last year. Picture: Instagram

Adele, 33, also believes in owning her mistakes, which is why she didn’t delete the photo from her page.

“I could see comments being like, ‘The nerve to not take it down,’ which I totally get,” she said. “But if I take it down, it’s me acting like it never happened. And it did. I totally get why people felt like it was appropriating.”

In the end, the Grammy-winning artist — who will drop a long-anticipated new single, Easy on Me, on October 15 — was served a heaping helping of karma for her poor form, and not just in terms of bad press.

Rather, she learned that bantu knots aren’t just a hairstyle — indeed, they serve a functional and cosmetic purpose for certain hair types — and made the unfortunate discovery that they are novel to white women for a good reason.

“I was wearing a hairstyle that is actually to protect Afro hair. [It] ruined mine, obviously,” she said.

Elsewhere, the Hello crooner’s extensive interview for British Vogue also revealed new details regarding her divorce with ex Simon Konecki, 47, and the forthcoming album — possibly titled “30” — it helped inspire.

Adele’s British Vogue cover for the November 2021 issue. Picture: Vogue

According to Adele, the new record is a personal reckoning.

“I feel like this album is self-destruction, then self-reflection and then sort of self-redemption,” she said. “But I feel ready. I really want people to hear my side of the story this time.”

The Rolling in the Deep singer also recounted feeling “f**king disappointed” about “being objectified” over her two-year weight-loss that led people to call her “too skinny,” or worse.

“My body’s been objectified my entire career,” the 15-time Grammy-winner said. “It’s not just now. I understand why it’s a shock.”

This story originally appeared on NY Post and has been reproduced here with permission