Adele’s Las Vegas residency was postponed on Friday due to Covid sickness within her team and unavoidable delivery delays. The singer apologised in a heartfelt, and teary, statement on her Instagram page with thousands of understanding fans thanking her for being one of the only musicians to speak directly to ticket holders about tour date cancellations.
But reports have since emerged claiming that Adele’s postponed live performances were due in part to her ‘diva’ demands for new stadium equipment at The Colosseum theatre.
‘The theatre has a massive video screen, very high tech but Adele’s team insisted upon an entirely new system—a larger screen, essentially built a few inches in front of the existing screen,’ claimed Las Vegas journalist Scott Roeben.
‘Such demands not only drive-up production cost but, at a time when supplies are disrupted, it’s a recipe for disaster—in this case last minute delays or cancellation,’ he reportedly told the Daily Mail{
Roben claimed that Caesar’s Palace is completely ready for Adele to perform and added that he believes ‘there are other forces at work here…Unfortunately, it sounds like one of those factors is a diva,’ he said.
‘Diva is a female version of a hustler,’ according to Beyonce. But, despite female superstars attempting to reclaim the term, there’s no escaping that ‘diva’ often has negative connotations when it’s being used to describe a woman with high standards.
This is a notably gendered insult. When a man asks for what he wants, he’s decisive. When a woman does it, she’s a diva. It operates with a similar semantic subtlety to when men take charge and are deemed authoritative while women are dubbed bossy.
‘What would a guy be called if they did the same as Adele? Diva? Perfectionist? Hmmmm,’ wrote one fan on Twitter. ‘When you say the word diva, Adele is pretty much the last person I think of,’ added another.
Céline Dion was similarly labelled a diva when she postponed the start of her Las Vegas residency due to ‘sever and persistent muscle spasms’ last year. And Ariana Grande has previously spoken out about the term’s sexist connotations in the industry.
‘Because I have an opinion about something, that was an opinion artistically or if I am directing something...it always was in the past manipulated and turned into this negative thing, whereas I don’t see that with men,’ she told Zane Lowe. ‘I’m tired of seeing women silenced by it.’
Diva, like bossy, psycho, or hysterical, is a word that is almost exclusively used to sensationalise women’s needs or emotions and thus encourage us not to express them. When Harry Styles cancelled his Australia and New Zealand tour dates in the same week as Adele, the announcement was received with little backlash or investigation.
Adele’s concerts were similarly postponed due to covid-related issues, which have since metamorphosed into accusations of demanding behaviour. But even if Adele has high standards for her tour, she has earnt the time to perfect her first live concerts in five years because everyone expects her to be the best.
She created the best-selling album of the 21st century to date. She is an expert in her field and an unbelievable talent. She wouldn’t have created the flawless work that she has if it weren’t for her high standards, which are now allowing her to be vilified.
If Adele allowed for any less, she would be short-changing her fans.
Since announcing that her Las Vegas shows have been postponed, Adele has made her remorse clear by personally facetiming fans who travelled to Sin City to see her: ‘I really appreciate how sweet you’re being to me and how gracious,’ she told two young girls as she announced free meet and greets before her rescheduled performances on the call.
‘You can tell me all about your breakup when I see you in real life,’ she told them. ‘I’m really sorry I’m not there and I tried my hardest and I am really gutted. I can salvage anything, but I can’t salvage a show for you guys as it is… I’m so sorry.’