SINGER Adele has been slammed for “cultural appropriation” after she showed off a different style in a photo on social media.

The star, 31, who used to live at a large country estate in East Grinstead, posted a picture of herself on Instagram on Sunday evening.

She was pictured celebrating Notting Hill Carnival from her garden in Beverley Hills as the annual celebration was moved online this year due to coronavirus.

Adele was wearing a Jamaican flag bikini with her hair styled in Bantu knots – a hairstyle predominantly worn by black women.

The Tottenham-born star posted the photo with the caption: “Happy what would be Notting Hill Carnival, my beloved London.”

But Adele’s choice of attire and hairstyle led many people to criticise her for being “insensitive” and “problematic”.

Commenting on Adele’s post, American journalist Ernest Owens wrote on Twitter: “If 2020 couldn’t get any more bizarre, Adele is giving us Bantu knots and cultural appropriation that nobody asked for.

“This officially marks all of the top white women in pop as problematic.

“I’m too old and black to be defending and making excuses for white people who still can’t read the damn room in 2020.”

One Twitter user wrote “Adele dropped that weight and said it’s time for her cultural appropriation era”, while another said: “Often when black women wear black hairstyles it’s frowned upon as ghetto, trashy and unprofessional. But when white women wear braids, cornrows, knots, it’s ‘trendy’”.

But many people also defended Adele’s image.

Twitter user Tiela Lio wrote: “Read up on the Notting Hill Carnival before you comment on this photo.

“In my humble opinion, this is not cultural appropriation.

“It is cultural appreciation. That festival is a celebration of different cultures.”

Another Twitter user, Avi Yemeni, said: “Adele is getting smashed for ‘cultural appropriation’ after posting this picture an hour ago. Apparently, they now own hairstyles.

“These people are crazy. The poor woman just wanted to show off her epic weight loss.”

Adele was previously married to Brighton charity entrepreneur Simon Konecki, and the pair have a seven-year-old son, Angelo.

The singer separated from Mr Konecki, who owns Portslade-based business Life Water, last year.

She was reported to have sold their £4 million Sussex mansion in April and now spends most of her time in Los Angeles.