Among Lana Del Rey's memorable street encounters: having a book on feminism thrown at her in San Francisco
According to Lana Del Rey, who has a new album out on March 10, "people would throw elbows" and more at her during her early years in the spotlight
Love her or love to hate her, Lana Del Rey has never been everyone’s feminist icon (and has made some notable missteps). With a new single “A&W” (short for “American Whore”) out today and a decade of bare-souled music in her arsenal, Del Rey has been divisive since she released the pouty, DIY music video to her first hit single, 2011's “Video Games.” But as she recalls in a new cover story for Interview Magazine, the palpable disdain she experienced early on in her career from critics and consumers alike sometimes crossed the line from “part of the job” to physically threatening.
Speaking to Billie Eilish, the artist muses on her early years in the spotlight, recalling aggressive dismissals from critics (she cites and on-the-street cruelty from fans. After emerging from a certain YouTube niche into the eye line of the mainstream, Del Rey says she immediately knew she was ripe for criticism— she just “didn’t know to what extent.”
“All of a sudden, I was walking down the street as I always did, and people would throw elbows at me,” she tells Eilish. “I was like, “Oh my god, no way did that actually happen. Someone recognized me and gave me a shove.”