Not a fan? Lana Del Rey called out a number of female pop stars while asking “a question for the culture” to her 16.3 million Instagram followers.
“Now that Doja Cat, Ariana [Grande], Camila [Cabello], Cardi B, Kehlani and Nicki Minaj and Beyoncé have had number ones with songs about being sexy, wearing no clothes, f–king, 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??????” the “Summertime Sadness” singer, 34, wrote in the early hours of Thursday, May 21.
Del Rey explained that she is “fed up with female writers and alt singers” who have questioned the themes of her songs over the years “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.” She then hit back at critics who have accused her of setting “women back hundreds of years,” writing, “I think it’s pathetic that my minor lyrical exploration detailing my sometimes submissive or passive roles in my relationships has often made people say [this].”
The Grammy nominee teased that she is “detailing some of my feelings in my next two books of poetry” after recently signing a deal with Simon & Schuster. In addition, she announced that she has a new album on the way that is set to be released on September 5.
While many of Del Rey’s Instagram followers applauded her candor, some social media users dragged her for tearing down other women — specifically women of color — instead of lifting them up.
“Lana….we were all rooting for you. why did you have to name drop them? Just say what you had to say and go finish the album babes,” one Twitter user wrote. Another tweeted, “Lana needed to namedrop drake post malone justin bieber and 6ixnine. and everyone would be on her side. instead she does THIS.”
A third Twitter user, meanwhile, noted, “Beyoncé was threatened to get lynched because she dared to sing about police brutality, Ariana got death threats for the death of her boyfriend [Mac Miller] that she had no control over. Kehlani got death + rape threats for a breakup song. All the women Lana mentioned have been through hell.”
Del Rey later addressed the backlash in the comments section of her post, writing, “Bro. This is sad to make it about a WOC [women of color] issue when I’m talking about my favorite singers. I could’ve literally said anyone but I picked my favorite f–king people. And this is the problem with society today. … I don’t care anymore but don’t ever ever ever ever bro- call me racist because that is bulls–t.”
