Adele has explained why she appeared “very annoyed” while sitting courtside at a basketball game two years ago.
The Rolling in the Deep singer became a viral meme in 2022 when she deliberately avoided eye contact with TV cameras while sitting courtside at an NBA All-Stars game in Cleveland, Ohio.
During a recent show in Las Vegas, the British singer-songwriter explained that she had an annoyed expression on her face because she denied the camera team permission to film her but they did so anyway.
“Do you remember that viral meme of me looking like I don’t give a flying f**k? Looking everywhere but the camera. I’d like to give some context to that meme. I know it sounds crazy, but I really don’t like being famous, right? So obviously, I know I’m sitting courtside at a basketball game, you’re asking for it, whatever,” she began, according to a fan video on TikTok.
“The people with the camera came and asked me twice. They were like, ‘Do you mind if we film you? Can we put you on the screen?’ I said, ‘Please don’t, please don’t, I just cancelled (my) Vegas (residency). I really don’t wanna be (on camera).’ They came back and they filmed me.”
The 35-year-old, who postponed the start of her Weekends with Adele residency in January 2022, joked that her lips looked like they had fillers because she was pouting and “sulking” about being filmed “against (her) will”. Quickly shutting down speculation about cosmetic treatments, she quipped, “I have naturally big lips, right, I don’t need filler.”
Adele added that her partner Rich Paul, a sports agent, was networking elsewhere in the room at the time and she didn’t realise her camera avoidance moment would end up on TV.
“I was just very annoyed because I asked not to be filmed but I was asking (for) it by going. Also, my face is very memeable. I can’t help it,” she joked.
