Lana Del Rey took time to explain her eyebrow-raising remarks about Beyoncé, Cardi B. and other “sexy” female stars this week after the fan backlash.
The “Venice Beach” singer had taken aim at her critics on Wednesday in a lengthy Instagram post announcing her plans for a new album, due out Sept. 5.
“Question for the culture,” she wrote. “Now 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. — can I please go back to singing about being embodied, feeling beautiful by being in love even if the relationship is not perfect, or dancing for money — or whatever I want — without being crucified or saying that I’m glamorizing abuse??????”
Del Rey’s post sparked outrage among fans who felt she’d singled out female artists of color. The conversation across media outlets was similar.
“The optics of Lana, a white woman, complaining about feminism lacking space for her while critiquing the acclaim allotted to several black pop artists is mortifying,” Jezebel’s Ashley Reese wrote. Added Teen Vogue’s Brittney McNamara: “It’s the women she used as an example in her post who are really doing the work and defying the odds to continue the hard-won fight that women of color have been at the forefront of for decades.”
By Thursday, however, Del Rey responded to the pushback in the comments section of her original post. She noted that she was a fan of the artists she’d mentioned and had intended only to point out the double standards that she and her pop contemporaries face.
“This is sad to make it about a [women of color] issue when I’m talking about my favorite singers,” she wrote. “I could’ve literally said anyone but I picked my favorite fucking people. ... 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.”
The 34-year-old singer continued, “When I said people 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.”
This isn’t the first time Del Rey has stoked controversy online. Last year, she took aim at NPR music journalist Ann Powers in a series of tweets shortly after Powers appeared mildly critical of Del Ray’s 2019 album, “Norman Fucking Rockwell!”
“I don’t even relate to one observation you made about the music,” Del Rey wrote in one tweet, later adding, “So don’t call yourself a fan like you did in the article and don’t count your editor one either.”