Adele thanked her late mother-in-law in her acceptance speech.
The legendary songstress accepted the Sherry Lansing Leadership Award on Thursday at The Hollywood Reporter’s Annual Women in Entertainment Gala. In her acceptance speech, she thanked her partner Rich Paul’s late mother, Minerva Martin, for raising her son to be a “proper man.”
The 35-year-old Grammy winner announced, “I actually have many men in my life who I love and who love me, but in the spirit of this morning and in fear of bras being burned, I’m gonna thank their mothers and not them,” adding, “I would like to thank Minerva Martin,” referring to her mother-in-law, she continued, “Thank you to them for raising [a] good man who [does] not think that a woman’s power diminishes their own.” The “Set Fire To The Rain” singer concluded her speech with, “That’s a proper man. Thank you.”
2021 was the year when Adele and Paul were spotted together at an NBA game, after which a source confirmed to People that the two had been dating for a few months. In October, in Paul’s memoir, Lucky Me: A Memoir of Changing the Odds, he opens up about his relationship with the singer. He also shares the deep trauma he faced having a mother who struggled with drug addiction and his early childhood growing up in a crime-ridden area of Cleveland in the ’80s and ’90s.
He said, “I had built up this wall as a young kid,” adding, “to just have the understanding to move forward and know that she’s not going to be there. Like, Mom is not coming home.” He further reiterated that his deep-rooted childhood trauma is the topic that brought him close to Adele. He states, “It was very emotional,” adding, “I think a lot of it probably hit home, so yeah, it was a difficult read [for her].”
The “Easy On Me” singer shared her thoughts on her husband’s memoir to The Hollywood Reporter. She stated, “It was very emotional reading about his mum because obviously, she’s not with us, so I’ve never met her,” she added, “And she’s such a big part of Rich and the kids and the kids’ mum’s life and stuff like that.” She continued, “But I knew all about it,” adding, “It was hard for him to write that.”
A source told People in November that Adele is “ecstatically happy with Rich and has never been more buoyant, inspired and secure,” adding, “We all want to be as happy as Adele.”