Adele Accused Of Cultural Appropriation For Sporting Bantu Knots In Bikini Photo

Adele caused a frenzy on social media after posting a photo of herself sporting Bantu knots and a Jamaican flag bikini top.

On Sunday, the 32-year-old showed off her slimmer figure in an Instagram photo commemorating the Notting Hill Carnival, a celebration of the Caribbean culture and interracial tolerance usually held on Aug. 30 and 31 in the streets of west London. Given the circumstances, the event was entirely virtual this year.

In the snap, Adele wore a Jamaican flag bikini top, leggings, carnival wear and Bantu knots, a hairstyle traditionally worn by Black women.

"Happy what would be Notting Hill Carnival my beloved London,” Adele captioned the photo, which has already garnered over 3.8 million likes.

However, Adele's look didn’t sit well with some of her fans who accused the Grammy winner of cultural appropriation.

One fan believes that Adele’s hair was “unnecessary” and that Bantu knots were not for her.

“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,” one Instagram user wrote.

Another user pointed out that Adele should have known about the repercussions of her post, especially in the current climate.

“Since you want to sit here and try to bring attention to yourself by using black ppl as a costume why don’t you use your platform to speak up and raise awareness (maybe raise some coins) to the very same group of ppl you have been appropriating,” the user added.

However, some fans defended Adele, claiming that people were simply overreacting over the photo and that the British singer’s display is not cultural appropriation but a celebration of the cultures.

“Adele is clearly celebrating a culture that she admires, and is in no way appropriating that culture. It's so trendy and clout chasing for most of you to call it cultural appropriation,” one person commented.

“Some of you need to learn the difference between cultural appreciation and cultural appropriation. We honestly have bigger fish to fry as a community,” another said.