Jesse Raymer May 22nd, 2020 - 4:58 PM
Alternative singer-songwriter Lana Del Rey has been responding to comments regarding her recent Instagram post, which some fans have found racially insensitive. In the original post, Lana Del Rey stated that: “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.” She explained that “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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This caused controversy within the comments, as some users found it to be insensitive and targeted towards women of color in the industry. Instagram user sunshinealllday commented that: “…As women we should definitely be uplifting one another. Specifically targeting women of color and using terms like “for the culture” you were strategically targeting woc.”
Additionally, another Instagram user sweet._caroline commented that: “You’re a white woman, and for this reason, feminism and ‘the culture’ will always cater to you.” With her Instagram post causing a multitude of comments, Lana Del Rey responded with: “This is sad to make it about a WOC issue when I’m talking about my favorite singers. I could’ve literally said anyone but I picked my favorite fucking people. And this is the problem with society today, not everything is about whatever you want it to be.”
The singer later clarified and stated that: “when I said people who look like me – I meant the people who don’t look strong or necessarily smart, or like they’re in control etc. it’s about advocating for a more delicate personality, not for white woman.” NME reported that Doja Cat, one of the singers Lana Del Rey mentioned in her original post, allegedly responded to the post with a comment stating: “Gang sunk that dunker.” Doja Cat’s comment was later deleted.
Later, Lana Del Rey posted a video to her Instagram, with the caption “#fuckoff” that seemed to be directed towards individuals who were criticizing the singer.
However, this afternoon, Lana Del Rey posted a fuller response to these allegations. In her statement, Lana Del Rey states that: “I want to say that I remain firm in my clarity and stance in that what I was writing was about was the importance of self advocacy for the more delicate and often dismissed, softer female personality,”
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This response comes after critiques of Lana Del Rey’s original intention, though she claims it was defending her lyrics and music, that gets accused of “glamorizing abuse.” This controversy comes after Lana Del Rey announced her new spoken-word album titled Violet Bent Backwards Over the Grass last month.
Photo credit: Sharon Alagna
