Coronavirus: Bryan Adams apologises for ‘bat eating’ rant

Singer Bryan Adams has apologised for his social media rant blaming wet market vendors for the coronavirus pandemic, after his post was criticised for being racist by people, including actor Simu Liu. Adams, in his defense, on Monday said he wanted to call attention to the animal cruelty taking place in China's wet markets.

In an expletive-laden Instagram post on Sunday, the Canadian musician hit out at "some f****** bat eating" people for bringing the world to a halt with the spread of the novel virus, including the cancellation of his concerts in the UK's Royal Albert Hall. He also urged people around the world to "go vegan".

Liu, who immigrated from China to Canada when he was five, shared a screenshot of Adams' post on Twitter, saying that such posts enable acts of "hate and racism" on social media.

"It is not my intention to ‘go at’ or ‘cancel’ anyone, but to identify posts like this that condone and enable acts of hate and racism. It runs counter to everything I love about Canada. I hope Bryan does better for the millions who look up to him like I do," he wrote in the caption, along with the hashtag #BummerOf69.

Canadian Inuit throat singer Tanya Tagaq lashed out at the Summer of '69 hitmaker.

"Bryan Adams can s*** my bat," she tweeted.

The novel virus originated in China's Wuhan in December, and some early reports suggested that wet markets in the city were the original source of coronavirus. However, there is no confirmation about the link between COVID-19 and the Wuhan wet markets.

Adams, 60, apologised to all those offended by his "rant".

"Apologies to any and all that took offence to my posting yesterday. No excuse, I just wanted to have a rant about the horrible animal cruelty in these wet-markets being the possible source of the virus, and promote veganism," he said in a new Instagram post.

"I have love for all people and my thoughts are with everyone dealing with this pandemic around the world," he wrote alongside hashtags like #covid19 #banwetmarkets #govegan.