In a follow-up to her passionate and controversial Instagram post, Lana Del Rey says race had nothing to do with her criticisms.
"I fucking love these singers and know them," she wrote of the women mentioned in her post on her Instagram Story, per Variety, later adding, "It’s exactly the point of my post — there are certain women that culture doesn’t want to have a voice it may not have to do with race I don’t know what it has to do with. I don’t care anymore but don’t ever ever ever ever bro- call me racist because that is bullshit.”
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Rather than advocating for people who look a certain way, Del Rey said her post was about "advocating for a more delicate personality, not for white women."
"I haven’t had the same opportunity to express what I wanted to express without being completely decimated and if you want to say that that has something to do with race that’s your opinion but that’s not what I was saying," she continued.
Original story published below on May 21.
Lana Del Rey posted a late-night Instagram message on Wednesday lamenting the unfair criticism she feels her work has received over the past ten years, while also name-dropping artists like Ariana Grande, Cardi B, and Camila Cabello as examples of double standards in the music industry. Her post also announced that her new album would be arriving September 5, but the internet has been too busy debating the specifics of her passionate screed to celebrate, particularly when it comes to feminism and race.
“Doja Cat, Ariana, Camila, Cardi B, Kehlani and Nicki Minaj and Beyoncé have had number ones with songs about being sexy, wearing no clothes, fucking, cheating etc.," Del Rey began the message, later adding. “I’m fed up with female writers and alt singers saying that I glamorize abuse when in reality I’m just a glamorous person singing about the realities of what we are all now seeing are very prevalent emotionally abusive relationships all over the world.”
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Her followers were quick to point out that almost all of the women she calls out in her message are women of color, and expressed frustration with her bringing other female artists down to prove a point.
I like Lana & love her music but she could’ve said that first part without bringing the other women down. Thank u next & Say So weren’t about the topics she said. Even though some number 1s are about those things, it was still an unnecessary. It’s the industry not them.
— Patton (@CorshaPatton) May 21, 2020
think Lana’s post would have been fine if she hadn’t compared herself to a group of mostly black women with the clear tone that she thinks she’s been treated worse by the media when that’s observably untrue
— shon faye. (@shonfaye) May 21, 2020
Lana blatantly ignoring the criticism Beyoncé, Nicki, and other black women have received (and continue to) for being confident in their sexuality doesn’t sit right with me. Commercial success hasn’t made them exempt from misogynistic attacks masked as constructive criticism.
— C (@BOYCOTTCAMILLE) May 21, 2020
Despite the controversial way in which her point was presented, Del Rey has indeed been subject to criticism about her portrayal of relationships. For instance, an article in The Independent cited her being choked in music videos and using The Crystals’ 1962 lyric "He hit me and it felt like a kiss," as romanticising domestic violence. Del Rey argues she's just singing her own personal truth.
“I’m not not a feminist—but there has to be a place in feminism for women who look and act like me—the kind of woman who says no but men hear yes—the kind of women who are slated mercilessly for being their authentic, delicate selves, the kind of women who get their own stories and voices taken away from them by stronger women or by men who hate women," she wrote in her post.
While the women named in her post have yet to respond, it's not the first time Del Rey has seemed to criticize them. In September 2019 she commented "What the hell?" on a teaser for Camila Cabello's Romance, which had significant similarities to Del Rey's "Ride" music video. Curiously, Del Rey has previously collaborated with Grande on "Don't Call Me Angel." Sounds like all these women are about to have a necessary Zoom session to hash all this out — and perhaps emerge with one big single that's sure to go to number one and nobody will ever fight again. Ever.