In a forceful tirade on social media, singer songwriter Bryan Adams is blaming “bat eating” and wet markets for his recent concert cancellations as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Canadian musician, perhaps best known for his hit singles including “Summer of ’69” and “(Everything I Do) I Do It For You,” took to Instagram and Twitter yesterday evening to vent his frustration at the cancellation of his shows at The Royal Albert Hall in London, because of the outbreak. Captioning a video of himself playing guitar in his home, he writes:

“…thanks to some fucking bat eating, wet market animal selling, virus making bastards, the world is on hold.”

Adams quickly deleted the strongly-worded post from his Twitter account, though the Instagram post is still viewable online. 

See the full Instagram post below:

Netizens have since come out in force against the singer, particularly against his characterization of what Chinese wet markets are and what they do. One Twitter user pointed out that a wet market — which is very similar to a farmers’ market — could be found anywhere in the world.

Many outside of China have made the mistake of confusing wet markets for those that sell exotic animals. In most cases, wet markets sell fresh produce such as meat, vegetables, and fruit, and are common in cities and towns across China, providing a main source of food for the country’s population.

Adams’ post follows a similar tone to many other ill-informed arguments about the threat of wet markets, which became a hot topic after the initial outbreak was traced back to an exotic animal market in Wuhan, Hubei province. He joins the likes of former Beatles member Paul McCartney in posting dangerous views on the subject.

Since the outbreak of Covid-19 at the end of December last year, the exotic animal trade has also rightly come under fire. China recently banned the domestic trade of wild animals in the aftermath of the coronavirus outbreak, and cities such as Shenzhen have made the consumption of cats and dogs illegal as well.

On Tuesday, a day after the original Instagram post, Adams took to Instagram once again to offer a flimsy, ill-informed “apology” for his statements. The singer cited his wish to highlight animal cruelty at wet markets as the reason for his online rant, as well as wanting to promote veganism. He also used the hashtag #banwetmarkets in his post. The apology has again been received with anger and bewilderment. 

In a comment made under the post, Chinese-Canadian actor Simu Liu, who is set to play Chinese superhero Shang-Chi in an upcoming Marvel film, wrote, “Wet markets are a way of life for literally billions of people around the world. Not everyone is privileged enough to be able to choose to live vegan; there are plenty parts of the world where that kind of diet is just not possible.”

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