NOAMI Campbell and Alexandra Burke are among those who defended Adele after she was slammed for “cultural appropriation”.
The singing superstar posed in the garden of her $9.5million Beverly Hills home with her in Bantu knots and dressed in a Jamaican flag.
Adele dressed up in celebration of Notting Hill Carnival, captioning the photo: “Happy what would be Notting Hill Carnival my beloved London”.
However, she was slammed by many people for “appropriating” the Bantu knots, which is a hairstyle associated with people of African descent.
Fellow stars have come out in defence of Adele, with X Factor winner Alexandra Burke saying: “I see the pic. She looks hot. She’s obviously been working on her body, that for me is a big deal. She’s looking good.
“As a Jamaican girl myself, my girl has grown up in black culture. People forget she’s from Tottenham. She probably eats jerk chicken all the time like all of us.
“All I’m saying is the girl looked good, leave her. Allow her man. If Popcaan is going to endorse it and say yes my girl you’re wearing the flag and you’re wearing it well. Let her live her best life, leave her alone. We love Adele.”
Meanwhile Naomi Campbell – whose mother was born in Jamaica – commented underneath the photo with hearts and the Jamaican flag.
Guardians of the Galaxy actress Zoe Saldana added: “you look right at home guurrrl!”
MP for Tottenham David Lammy also jumped to her defence, saying: “Poppycock! This humbug totally misses the spirit of Notting Hill Carnival and the tradition of “ dress up” or “ masquerade” Adele was born and raised in Tottenham she gets it more than most. Thank you Adele. Forget the Haters.”
Adele was showing off her stunning seven stone weight loss but sparked outrage with the snap, which saw her celebrate her festival vibe with a yellow feather headdress and high-waisted leggings.
However, some fans criticised her, with one person saying: “Unfollowing tonight. Please note that I’m from London. While it may appear cute to some, to show this type of appreciation, it’s not.
“Many Black and Latina ladies have been denied/fired from jobs and young children sent home from school with hairstyles like this. This has happened in the UK, the US and other countries abroad. I’m not a fan.”
Another added: “Caribbean’s need to come to America/ Canada to see how they really treat us over here before saying that we’re only tripping over a hairstyle!!
“They wouldn’t even hire us or yet alone look at us if we came in with our hair looking like that , that’s the problem … they hate all of us but will put up a front on vacay tho.”
Someone else said: “No sis…. we love you but don’t appropriate people’s culture.”
Notting Hill Carnival is one of London’s most popular annual events and would have taken place this weekend had the coronavirus pandemic not struck.
Its origins date back to the 60s when it first took place to celebrate Caribbean culture.
But this year the celebrations have been moved online for the first time, due to the pandemic.
