“New Americana” singer Halsey faced considerable controversy on Twitter yesterday surrounding allegations that her support for David Bowie after his death wasn’t genuine.
It all started Monday morning when Halsey’s tweet about how the “devastation” of David Bowie’s death had impacted her immensely left many scratching their heads (figuratively speaking) in confusion. She claimed (and rightfully so) that he was a cultural icon and legend.
Nothing out of the ordinary, right? According to a now seemingly disproven rumor, when asked if she was a Bowie fan a few months ago at a meet & greet after a show, Halsey allegedly replied that she was unfamiliar with whom he was.
Halsey has denied that claim several times.
Just as the situation was simmering down, Twitter user @codyspearz fired shots. He pointed out that Halsey was a One Direction fangirl up until 2 months before she was offered a record deal. Although it’s quite obvious that an individual can be a fan of more than just one artist, this recent allegation added to a long list of grievances internet users have against Halsey. Halsey shot back with a retort that should’ve silenced the doubters. As you can imagine, in this case, it only backfired on her end, providing her attackers with even more ammunition. Halsey can never win, can she?
These allegations of artifice are nothing new to the New Jersey-born (although she identifies with New York, whatever that means) indie pop star. The Internet is alive with controversy surrounding her music, visuals, and authenticity.
Although her problematic past has come back to haunt her, her visuals and concepts are eerily similar to Sky Ferriera‘s, and she often contradicts herself, the original intent of her tweet should not be lost in semantics.
David Bowie was, in fact, a cultural icon and legend, and one does not need to have been a lifelong fan to recognize that.
And although it’s obnoxious that as a society we tend to wait until someone is dead to recognize their lifetimes’ achievements, perhaps we should spend more time focusing on Bowie’s legacy itself, rather than bashing others for attempting to do the same, regardless of how genuine they may or may not be.
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