Adele has lifted the lid about what was really going on in one of her most famous meme-able moments.
Back in 2022, Adele and her partner, sports manager Rich Paul, put in an appearance at an NBA All-Star Game, where the Grammy winner wound up going viral when she was caught on camera looking, as she herself put it, “like I don’t give a flying fuck”.
The moment wound up inspiring a meme that’s still hugely popular to this day, which the Someone Like You singer took a moment to discuss during the latest shows on her Weekends With Adele residency in Las Vegas.
“So, I know it sounds crazy, but I really don’t like being famous, right?” she told the fans in attendance.
“So, obviously, I know sitting courtside at a basketball game, you’re ‘asking for it’ or whatever, but Rich was, like, working the room and, you know, talking to players and people. And I didn’t mind! I was just there on my own, looking for Michael Jordan, to be honest with you.
“But the people with the camera came and asked me twice, ‘do you mind if we film you? Can we put you on the screen?’. And I said, ‘please don’t, please don’t, I just cancelled [my Las Vegas residency], I really don’t want to’.”
However, despite being denied permission twice, Adele claimed the crew “came back and filmed me anyway”.
“So the reason my lips look like I had filler,” she joked, referring to her pouting facial expression in the clip. “I’ve got naturally big lips, right? I don’t need filler. But the reason I looked like a different person was because I was sulking.
“I was like, ‘these motherfuckers have come back and they’re filming me against my will’. And I didn’t realise they were airing it on TV, I thought it was just in the room, you know?”
Adele added: “I was ignoring [them], looking everywhere but the camera, because I was very annoyed because I had asked not to be filmed. But I guess I was asking for it by going.”
She then joked: “Also my face is just very meme-able, I can’t help it.”
As well as performing her many hits, Adele has also been known for taking the opportunity to chat to her fans during her ongoing shows in Las Vegas.
This year alone, she’s jumped to the defence of Taylor Swift, heaped praise on Lady Gaga and was moved to tears after spotting a familiar face in the crowd.
Later this year, the singer-songwriter will perform her first shows in mainland Europe in almost a decade, with a string of shows at a purpose-built “one-off, bespoke pop-up stadium”.