Adele Blasts Jamie Oliver over Breastfeeding Comments
Pop superstar Adele isn’t letting celebrity chef Jamie Oliver off easy for his controversial comments on breastfeeding he made earlier this month.
According to Mic, Adele who’s best known for the hits “Hello” and “Rolling in the Deep” blasted the English chef on March 22 during a show in London. The tirade initially started after an audience member asked Adele for her thoughts on “breastfeeding mummies.”
“It’s f**king ridiculous, and all those people who put pressure on us, you can go f**k yourselves, alright?” said the 27-year-old singer.
She then spoke from experience of breastfeeding her now three-year-old son Angelo, with partner Simon Konecki, as reported by The Mirror.
“Some of us can’t do it. I managed about nine weeks with my boobs,” said Adele, who also joked that Mariah Carey should be in the Bible.
She continued, “Breastfeed if you can, but don’t worry, Aptamil’s [a brand of formula] just as good. I mean, I loved it, all I wanted to do was breastfeed and then I couldn’t.”
Apparently on Twitter, Jamie Oliver and Adele were encouraged to engage in “a real fight,” but many users sided with the English singer.
“Adele gives zero f**ks for your thoughts on women and breastfeeding, Jamie Oliver,” said Claire Lampen, a writer for Mic.
Jamie Oliver initially made the controversial comments during the week of March 13, on LBC radio in the U.K., according to The Telegraph.
“We have the worst breastfeeding in the world,” said Oliver, who feels that breastfeeding is healthier and more cost effective.
Oliver continued, “If you breastfeed for more than six months, women are 50 percent less likely to get breast cancer. When do you ever hear that? Never.”
The Independent reported that, Jamie Oliver was thus accused of “mansplaining,” and met with heavy criticism from women. “Masplaining,” according to Merriam-Webster, is when men talk down to women on a subject they have no knowledge of.
One woman called into LBC and told them, “We didn’t know what to do with our nipples until Jamie Oliver popped his head above the parapet.”
Jamie Oliver later clarified his comments on Twitter and squashed the rumors that he was starting a campaign about women breastfeeding.
“I’m not planning on starting a campaign on breastfeeding. It’s simply a matter of interest following my nutritional studies over the past two years,” said Oliver, who’s expecting his fifth child with wife Jools.
He continued, “I understand that breastfeeding is not easy and in some cases not even possible but just wanted to support women who DO want to breastfeed and make it easier to do so.”
“Even if Oliver were the world’s expert on the nutritional benefits of breast milk compared to formula, that wouldn’t put him in a position to say whether breast is truly best,” said Glosswitch, of New Statesman, who described breastfeeding as “gendered work.”
“Jamie’s implication that most women don’t breastfeed out of inertia or ignorance is, quite frankly, wrong,” said Victoria Young of The Telegraph. “That’s not to say, by the way, that women don’t need information and support.”
Young advised the chef to get back in the kitchen, but also wished “positive vibes” for his wife for seemingly being able to breastfeed easily.
Despite all these criticisms, Jamie Oliver has had some support in the form of Charlotte Gill, a writer for The Independent.
“Over the last decade, the non-breastfeeding community has developed a faux-sense that society is ganging up on them,” said Gill, who feels women can benefit from his perspective as a chef.
Gill continued, “Even if he weren’t a father or a chef, it wouldn’t matter; we shouldn’t simply ban people from discussing topics because of their experiences.”
Some Twitter users also defended Jamie Oliver by noting that his observations on breastfeeding were correct, including Emma Pickett who tweeted: “Breastfeeding is about EVERYONE & fathers are crucial.”
[Image by Jeff Spicer/Getty Images]
