By Justin Curto
Lana Del Rey, who proclaimed last week that she was “definitely not racist,” stayed silent for most of the weekend as the nation protested against police violence, spurred by recent police killings of multiple black Americans including former DJ Screw associate George Floyd. But she did appear to attend protests in Los Angeles, posting a photo of herself on Instagram along with multiple videos that clearly showed the faces of protesters and looters, which can allow police to target them. (She’s since taken down the photo of herself and video of looters.)
Kehlani — who Del Rey called out on May 21, along with six other women, for making “songs about being sexy, wearing no clothes, fucking, cheating etc.” — responded that night, tweeting at Del Rey to ask her to take down the posts. “@LanaDelRey please remove your instagram post it’s dangerous as fuck and a very poor choice of moments to post,” she tweeted. “By all means protest, but DO NOT endanger people with your very massive platform. oh and turn your fuckin comments on man.” Shortly before, Tinashe also tweeted, “@LanaDelRey why the fuck are you posting people looting stores on your page literally WHAT IS YOUR PROBLEM.”
Del Rey has since taken down the video of the looting and photo of herself, but her video of a protestor on top of a destroyed car remains up. Kehlani said she deleted her tweet once she heard that Del Rey deleted the posts (Tinashe’s tweet has also been deleted), but when she found out one of the videos was still up, she replied on Twitter. “I was told the post was deleted and that was my point so i deleted the tweet but i guess it’s not deleted it’s just reposted ?” she wrote. “Leaving it up on my story but hopefully if she gets enough dm’s she will take it completely down.”
After Del Rey’s posts, Kehlani also tweeted more generally about posting protest photos and videos on social media. “Remember, fellow large platforms, at protests A LOT of people can see our stories/lives and it’s impossible to block faces live,” she wrote. “Gotta take a step back and remember not to endanger people. film the cops.” In another tweet, she added, “if someone corrects you on putting something harmful out please just take it down. no matter how many people it reached. if it’s harmful it does not need to stay up. please.”
Del Rey recently dated celebrity cop Sean “Sticks” Larkin, the host of live police show PD Cam and an analyst on Live PD. Justifying their relationship last fall, she said he was “a good cop.”
Del Rey claimed she mentioned Kehlani and the other women (Beyoncé, Nicki Minaj, Cardi B, Doja Cat, Camila Cabello, and Ariana Grande) because they were her “favorite singers,” and that it was “sad to make it about a WOC issue,” even though six of the seven musicians she mentioned are women of color. With an album and two books scheduled to come out over this year and next, prepare yourself for much more Lana discourse.
https://www.vulture.com/2020/06/lana-del-rey-looting-video-instagram-kehlani-twitter.html