Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver knows the recipe to piss off Adele. On March 22, a week after Oliver suggested in an interview that nursing is “easy,” the Grammy winner sounded off about the pressure to breastfeed.
The “Hello” singer — who is mom of son Angelo, 3, with partner Simon Konecki — vented during a performance at London’s 02 Arena when an audience member asked her about breastfeeding moms. “Do you know what? The pressure on us is f- – – ing ridiculous and all those people who put pressure on us can go f–k yourselves, alright?” she crowed. “Because it’s hard. Some of us can’t do it! I managed about nine weeks with my boobs.”
Adele, 27, continued: “Breastfeed if you can, but don’t worry, [formula] Aptamil’s just as good. I mean, I loved it, all I wanted to do was breastfeed and then I couldn’t, and then I felt like, if I was in the jungle now back in the day, my kid would be dead because my milk’s gone.”
The Naked chef star, who is expecting his fifth child with wife Jools, made the controversial comments on LBC radio in the U.K. “We have the worst breastfeeding in the world,” he said on March 15. “If you breastfeed for more than six months, women are 50% less likely to get breast cancer. When do you ever hear that? Never. It’s easy, it’s more convenient, it’s more nutritious, it’s better, it’s free.”
His remarks didn’t only anger Adele. “Hearing Jamie Oliver warbling on about how breastfeeding is “easier” is mansplaining at its best,” tweeted one user, while another joked: “Pondering the etiquette of expressing milk in front of 8yo’s best mate. If only Jamie Oliver was here to advise.”
On March 18, Oliver responded to the backlash on Twitter. “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,” the Everyday Super Food author wrote. “Childhood nutrition starts with supporting pregnant women properly and I expect Mr. Cameron [Prime Minister David Cameron] also wants to be including this in childhood obesity strategy expected shortly. As a father and father-to-be I would never want to offend women or mums as I know how incredible they are and I would get a kicking when I got home!”
