On the night of February 21, 2012, Adele was immortalized on stage at the O2 Arena in London. And not because she became one of the big winners of the Brit Awards. What the international press highlighted in headlines and images the day after the ceremony was her comb. The offensive gesture, the center of a huge whirlwind of gossip, responded to his Anger at ‘removing’ her from stage amid acceptance speech. This isn’t the only time the British diva has made news for her anger and expressed it with her middle finger raised or in any other way. It is fair to acknowledge that many of these tantrums are perfectly understandable.
A comb “to those in suits”
Adele was delighted. 21, his second album, was breaking sales records and had just returned from Los Angeles after winning six Grammys. And now she was at the O2 Arena in London, poised to become the big winner for the Brits with Ed Sheeran. This night of February 21, 2012, the singer will go on stage twice. One to pick up the statuette Best Singer (presented by Kylie Minogue) and the other to receive the most coveted prize, that of best album. George Michael was responsible for giving it to him. With the whole room on their feet, applauding, an emotional Adele began her acceptance speech.
“Thank you, thank you very much,” said the Hello singer, before saying how proud she felt “to be British and to be able to fly our flag”, to “be here with all of you and… ” . He couldn’t go on. James Cordon (the comedian presenter of the gala) approached her to interrupt her: “I’m so sorry”, he said. Adele said goodbye, – “Goodbye, I’ll see you next time” – while nodding and combing her hair. Smiling. Without losing his calm. Blur was already on stage and starting their performance. There was a rush.
Adele at the Brits 2012 / Yui Mok – PA Images (Getty Images)
He would later explain that the raised middle finger of his right hand was a gesture of protest “to those in costume (referring to the producers of the event), not the fans”. And he added: “I’m sorry if I offended anyone, but the costumes offended me.” For his part, Corden, clearly uncomfortable with the incident, told ITV2: “I felt bad about having to cut Adele. I don’t understand why I had to do it, it wasn’t a very nice way to finish. Blur had 11 minutes left and she barely got a chance to say thank you.”
The comb got a response from ITV and Brits. Through a statement, they expressed their deepest apologies: “The Brits are a live event. Unfortunately, the program ran out of time and we had to continue. We would like to apologize to Adele for the interruption.”
The paparazzi combs
The Brits’ is Adele’s most famous comb. But the singer is very inclined to raise her middle finger when she gets angry. Just a month before the gala, in January 2012, she was captured with her partner, Simon Konecki (and later husband until their divorce in 2019) as they arrived at London Airport. They were returning from Miami, where the singer was recovering from vocal cord surgery. When he noticed the presence of the photographers, he turned to them and raised his middle finger..
In February 2020, visibly angry, his finger gesture also stuck for eternity. She had celebrated the wedding of her friend Laura Dockrill at the Mason’s Arms pub in London. During the evening, she interpreted some of her hits with animation. The problem came to the output, when he fell on the cameras of the paparazzi. As she walked to the car, she tried to hide her face with a bouquet of flowers. But she didn’t manage to go unnoticed, as evidenced by photographs of Adele yelling at reporters and combing them while she was already in the vehicle.
“Could you stop the recording?” »
Upset, Adele stopped singing in the middle of a concert in Verona (Italy) with which she presented her third album, 25, as part of the ‘Adele Live 2016’ tour. At one point during the performance, he addressed a person in the audience: “Could you stop recording with a video camera?”, asked. “Because I’m really here, in real life. You can enjoy it in real life better than through your camera”. The audience cheered as the singer asked the woman to lower her tripod. “It’s not a DVD, it’s a real show and I would like you to enjoy my concert because there are plenty of people outside who cannot enter”.
Adele in Verona in 2016 / Francesco Prandoni (Getty Images)
A pool that looked like “an old pond”
A pool design infuriated Adele so much she canceled her Las Vegas residency ‘Weekends with Adele’. At least that’s what The Sun reported. The shows were to be held at Caesars Palace, between January and April 2022. But they were suspended with just 24 hours notice. According to the statements of a source close to the British tabloid: “The idea was to fill the pool with water during the concert and it would be lifted with a mechanism, a sort of crane, creating the illusion that it was floating on the When he saw the final design, he refused to act. Adele described the pool as an ‘old pond’ and flatly refused to be in the middle.”.
The English artist announced that she was postponing all Las Vegas concerts “because my show is not ready and half of my team has COVID”. Finally, he resumes them in November.
Adele at her Las Vegas residence / Kevin Mazur (Getty Images)
“What do you think of my album?
A distraught Adele left an interview for Australian TV channel Channel 7 because she felt offended. Not because they inquired about his personal life. It was for another reason. And weight. Journalist Matt Doran flew to London to chat with the diva for “20-30 minutes”. But during the conversation, in November 2021, Doran he asked no questions about his new record. Just then, the star had just released her fourth album, titled 30, her first in six years. And I ask, “What do you think of my album?” He replied, “I haven’t listened to it.” Adele left the interview very irritated..
Doran, according to The Guardian, He confessed to having “made a terrible mistake” and admitted to having “insulted Adele”. Although other sources say the interview was already over when the artist put Matt through his paces.