Bryan Adams apologizes for COVID-19 Instagram post condemned as racist, inflammatory

Canadian singer-songwriterBryan Adams has apologized for an Instagram post widely condemned Monday as crass, racist and inflammatory.

Adams posted theapology Tuesday "to any and all that took offence" tohis post.

"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. I have love for all people and my thoughts are with everyone dealing with this pandemic around the world," he wrote.

The original post on Monday blamed the global COVID-19 pandemic on "some f--kingbat eating, wet market animal selling, virus making greedy bastards."

"My message to them other than 'thanks a f--kinglot' is go vegan," the caption read.

The World Health Organizationsaid in April that evidence suggests the novel coronavirus originated in animals in China late last year andwas not manipulated or produced in a laboratory.

Scientists who have studiedthe virusgenomehave found itis likely the product of natural evolutionand made the leap from wild animals to humans just as both SARS and MERS coronaviruses did, probably as the result of close animal-human contact.

Early studies suggested the viruscould have come from bats.The World Health Organization (WHO) is still researchingthe origin of the virus.

"Bryan Adams" was trending across social media after the singer posted his rant on Instagram and Twitter. The tweet has since been deleted.

He was accused ofcontributing to anti-Chinese rhetoricproliferating during the pandemic. Others accused the singerof forgettingthe true victims of anoutbreak that has claimed hundreds of thousands of lives worldwide.

Amy Go, president of the Chinese Canadian National Council for Social Justice, described the post on Monday as irresponsible and "so, so, so, so racist."

On Tuesday, she said the singer'sapology was not good enough because it didn't acknowledge theracism and the potential harm caused by his message.

"Until such time that he recognizes his words ... will cause harm to specific communities, like Chinese and Asian communities, I don't think that's an apology."