#Adele Allegedly Hired Non-Union Musicians For Las Vegas Residency: Source Says They’re ‘Attempting Union Busting’!

The singer shocked fans on Thursday when she delayed her entire Weekends with Adele concert series at the last minute, leaving many diehards stranded in Sin City after already traveling to see the singer perform on opening night. At the time of her announcement, she posted a teary video to Instagram blaming COVID-19 cases among her team and shipping delays for the inability to put on the show she desired.

But, rumor has it, there are a lot more issues that went into this major rescheduling!! On Sunday, Showbiz411 spoke with Keith D. Nelson, the secretary/treasurer of the Musicians’ Union of Las Vegas, Local 369, who had a lot of claims about the inner workings of the Easy on Me vocalist’s band! And from the sounds of it, Adele and her team were being cheap AF!!

Related: Adele FaceTimes With Fans Who Traveled To Las Vegas Before Last Minute Residency Cancellation!

According to the insider, when musicians are needed for a show (no matter where in the world it takes place), it is standard for an artist to use a local “contractor” to find and hire the help needed. But rather than rely on a Nevada-based contractor — who would have found unionized musicians to put on the event — Adele’s team hired an unknown contractor from Canada to avoid the union!

Nevada is one of 28 “right to work states,” meaning that employees can take work in a unionized setting even if they aren’t members themselves. Usually, the states that allow this behavior are known to be less financially stable and “red.” But thanks to gambling, Nevada has few financial worries and is also considered to be a “blue” state. All that said, legally, there’s nothing wrong with what Adele’s team did — but it does raise eyebrows considering how expensive tickets to her show were. They were between $85 to $12,000 — and that’s just half of what those on the black market purchased seats for!!

So, did she really need to go out of her way to hire less expensive talent?! Of course not! But those on the inside aren’t surprised…

In Keith’s perspective, this is likely the reason the songwriter decided to “sit down” in Vegas for the months-long residency rather than travel the globe. If she chose to head out on tour like most artists, she would be forced to hire union musicians in many states, like she had to do at Radio City Music Hall in 2015 or her recent CBS special (pictured above). Keith insisted:

“They’re attempting union busting.”

Lady Gaga, one of the city’s most popular performers, has been using unionized musicians for years now. In doing so, she observes all the union rules. So great!!

Unfortunately, it sounds like it’s normal for celebrities to attempt to avoid unions, and that decision deeply affects those performing in the show, who don’t have any rights to stand on if anything happens to the concert… such as a cancelation/rescheduling. Now that the residency has been postponed indefinitely, it remains unclear what will happen to these non-union musicians or if they’ll be paid for the 16 weeks they just spent rehearsing. Yikes!

Related: OMG, This Poor Adele Superfan Has Had EVERY SINGLE CONCERT She Had Tickets To Canceled!

This news comes after reports that the Brit was having “explosive arguments” with her set designer, as well. A confidant told The Sun the 33-year-old was “spiraling into a panic” as she clashed with acclaimed set designer Esmeralda Devlin. They explained:

“There was no real clarity around what Adele wanted for the show because of the endless changes being made to the production. It seemed that while she has always preferred a stripped-back performance, she was under some pressure to come up with a huge extravaganza. So there was a constant ricochet between those two versions of what the show should be, and it did cause some quite explosive arguments.”

Hmm. Sounds like there was a LOT of drama going down behind the scenes!! Hopefully, the issues will be fixed ASAP so fans can finally see her perform! Reactions, Perezcious readers??

[Image via CBS]