Canadian singer Bryan Adams is being criticized as racist for social media posts in which he blamed "bat eating" people for the coronavirus.
"Tonight was supposed to be the beginning of a tenancy of gigs at the @royalalberthall, but thanks to some f------ bat eating, wet market animal selling, virus making greedy bastards, the whole world is now on hold, not to mention the thousands that have suffered or died from this virus," Adams wrote on Instagram and Twitter Tuesday, alongside a video of him performing his song "Cuts Like a Knife."
Adams added that his message "to them other than 'thanks a f------ lot' is go vegan."
Though Adams has since deleted his tweet and appears to have disabled commenting on his Instagram post, his rant sparked immediate backlash online, with "Bryan Adams" and "Bryan Adams racist" trending on social media Tuesday.
"Now that I see #BryanAdams trending because he's a a racist f---wit, I am a lot happier that I converted his concert t-shirt into my first ever homemade respiratory mask," one person tweeted.
"Well, I didn't have #BryanAdams being a screaming racist on my 2020 #StoptheMadness Bingo card," wrote lawyer and media consultant Katie Phang.
Reports of targeted attacks against Asians and Asian Americans have grown with the coronavirus pandemic and many expressed concerns that Adams' "hateful language" will add to their marginalization.
"Bryan Adams' racist xenophobic tirade has been up for 10 hours now," tweeted Dr. Wing Kar Li, a Canadian-based neuroscientist. "Damage has been done."
Adams did not immediately respond to NBC News' request for comment. However, he apologized for his comments in a separate Instagram post Tuesday.
"Apologies to any and all that took offense to my posting yesterday," Adams wrote. "No excuse, I just wanted to have a rant about the horrible animal cruelty in these wet-markets ... and promote veganism."
