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Singer Lana Del Rey was slammed over her assessment of Beyoncé, Nicki Minaj, Ariana Grande and other female musicians in an Instagram post Thursday addressing criticism she glamorizes abuse.
The “Young and Beautiful” hitmaker began the lengthy statement posted to her account with: “Question for the culture.”
“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, f——, 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 asked.
She went on to say: “I am 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.”
Del Rey, born Elizabeth Grant, wrote that she is “not not a feminist,” but that 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.”
“I’ve been honest and optimistic about the challenging relationships I’ve had,” the singer wrote. “News flash! That’s just how it is for many women.”
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On her earlier albums, Del Rey was tagged as “sadcore,” The Los Angeles Times reported in October 2019, describing her career as “unusual in many ways.”
“After releasing music under the names Lizzy Grant and May Jailer, she took on the mantle of Lana Del Rey,” the Times reported. “She quickly played ‘Saturday Night Live’ and was met with fierce criticism for her look, her sound, her lyrics. But that fast rise to fame and chauvinist response from some critics didn’t scare her; she just doubled down on what she does best: writing songs.”
Some social media users questioned why those named in her Instagram statement — Camila Cabello, Cardi B, Doja Cat and Kehlani, among others — were almost all women of color.
“She aimed her question to ‘the culture’ and then proceeded to name black women specifically (and Ariana/Camilla) who make R&B, Hip Hop and Urban music,” one Twitter user wrote. “Why is that? Why not Taylor? Billie? Adele? Gaga? Katy? Dua?… Why specifically the ‘urban” girls?”
Cultural critic and writer Jamilah Lemieux tweeted: “I don’t know who was giving Lana Del Rey a hard time but I’m pretty sure it wasn’t Black women. Girl, sing your little cocaine carols and leave us alone.”
Writer and activist Shon Faye tweeted: “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.”
Del Rey wrote in her statement that it has been “a long 10 years of bulls— reviews up until recently,” which she has learned from, “but I also feel it really paved the way for other women to stop ‘putting on a happy face’ and to just be able to say whatever the hell they wanted to in their music.”
Many social media users took issue with this assertion and said that Del Rey is not the only musician to face criticism.
Another Twitter user wrote: “Beyoncé was threatened to get lynched because she dared to sing about police brutality, Ariana got death threats for the death of her boyfriend 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 concluded the post by writing that she will detail some of her feelings in her next two books of poetry and she teased an upcoming album.
Janelle Griffith is a breaking news reporter for NBC News.
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