Hoo boy. Grab some popcorn because we have a doozy here, folks. So Lana Del Rey kicked off a heap of drama on Instagram by dumping a rant filled with criticism about other popular female artists (all of whom are coincidentally women of colour) while announcing her new album, only to defensively backtrack when the backlash started coming in.
Speaking of drama involving female artists, the GOAT team talk about all the attention Adele has gotten on ‘It’s Been A Big Day For…’ below:
In tone-deaf rant shared on Instagram, Lana Del Rey went on a tirade about the “10 years of bullsh*t reviews” she’s received (which isn’t the first time she’s done it), all the “female writers” and “alt singers” who have accused her glamourising abuse in her lyrics, and how “there has to be a place in feminism” for women who “look and act” like her.
That’s all fine and well, she has every right to share her frustrations in an industry that’s ridiculously flawed and sexist. But Lana Del Rey then undercut her entire message by naming and going after several other female artists, most of whom happen to be women of colour.
“Now that Doja Cat, Ariana, Camila, Cardi B, Kehlani and Nicki Minaj and Beyoncé have had their number ones with songs about being sexy, wearing no clothes, fu*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??????”
Oh and there’s also a new Lana Del Rey album coming, as well as two books of poetry.
No one is saying that Lana Del Rey hasn’t copped her share of backlash, criticism and just crap in general during her time in the music industry. But comparing herself to several other successful artists who are women of colour while complaining about feminism lacking a space for her and positioning herself as a martyr who thinks she’s been treated worse by the media is just ridiculous.
All the female artists named by Lana have copped their share of criticism over the years and seeing Lana conveniently ignore all that just to prop herself up comes off as tone-deaf.
Needless to say that the backlash to Lana Del Rey’s rant has been swift and unrelenting. Perhaps realising she effed up her point, Lana shared a few follow-up replies in the comments section clarifying that she loves all those female artists she named and doubling down on her views that she’s been unfairly treated.
This follow up comment from Lana Del Rey certainly smells of someone who realises she’s going to (rightfully) cop it for her comments and is trying to get ahead of the backlash and criticism by proactively going on the defensive, all while trying to have her “but what about me” cake and eat it too.
She’s got to be exhausted at this point. All that backtracking must be quite a workout.
This could’ve been a powerful message that calls out double standards in music while also supporting other female artists. Instead, all Lana Del Rey did was show that she doesn’t understand that it is possible to express your setbacks without tearing other women down.
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