Adele is known for many things, from her incredible voice to unmistakable cackling laugh.

But the things she’s most known for is her heartbreaking song lyrics about past relationships. This is why fans were shocked and saddened when the singer announced in 2019 that she and her husband Simon Konecki would be separating.

Since Adele released her third album ‘25’ in 2015 and announced her separation last year, she’s kept a relatively low profile. There’s been photos of her leaving recording studios and it’s been reported a new album could be on its way in September. We’ve also seen photos which appear to show Adele looking thinner than normal, the reaction to which sparked a debate about fatphobia in the music industry.

But now another debate is swirling surrounding rumoured details about Adele’s personal life.

(Well, it could actually be more of a misunderstanding than anything else…)

What’s the issue?

It was reported by various outlets that Adele’s request to keep details of her divorce private had been granted by a court in California. The headlines on these reports describe the split as “Adele’s £140m divorce”, which is presumably a nod to the fact that the singer’s reported net worth of £140m will be split between the pair.

What are people saying about it?

On Twitter, the “£140m divorce” has been (mis)interpreted by lots of people to mean that Adele’s divorce settlement to her husband is £140m. But in reality none of us know what Adele’s exact net worth is or how much money Konecki might receive as part of any divorce settlement. At this point it’s all (quite rightly) private.

But this hasn’t stopped people online from hotly debating whether the rumoured (made up) settlement of £140m is fair (even though this figure seems to be plucked out of thin air, or based on a misreading of headlines).

Some people don’t think it’s fair for Adele to have to pay a hypothetical payment this large, even if this is half of her net worth.

Others have hypothetically asked if, in his position, they would take this amount of money...

But then some people (who, it must be noted, are mostly men) think that this is merely “equality” given that billionaires like Jeff Bezos and millionaires like Tiger Woods reportedly halved their fortunes with their former spouses upon divorce.

In California law, assets acquired during marriage are split equally. But in Adele’s case, she’d already released two albums before she was married to Konecki, even though it's been reported that no pre-nuptial agreement was signed. Like any divorce it’s obviously more complex than any of us can even pretend to know with any glimmer of certainty.

Every divorce is different and comes with its own set of circumstances. None of us know how Adele and Konecki are approaching their separation so it’s probably best to leave them to it and hope that their family works it out amicably. That’s priceless, after all.

For now, it seems like the details will remain private, so let's stop speculating. (Oh, and maybe don’t believe random figures you read on Twitter either).