• Taylor Swift wrapped her $2 billion Eras Tour last year and is taking a break between album releases.
• Critics and Swifties alike have questioned her hiatus, fueling work-life balance debates.
• President Donald Trump even recently said Taylor Swift is "no longer 'hot,'" meaning popular.

Last month, I was browsing a newsstand's magazine selection when the headline on an Us Weekly cover featuring Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce embracing made me laugh out loud: "Why Did They Disappear?"

I sent a photo of the cover to my friend, a fellow Swiftie, with a snarky caption: "No one can take time off anymore without getting pinged."

The explanations for the couple's low profile seemed so obvious: Kelce is a football player in the NFL's offseason, while last year, Swift released her 11th blockbuster album, "The Tortured Poets Department," and wrapped the cross-continental Eras Tour that grossed over $2 billion. One would think that would set her up nicely for a worry-free vacation, even in this economy.

Instead, Swifties are documenting each day that passes without a new Instagram post (163 as of writing) like Tom Hanks carving tally marks in "Cast Away." This week, Swift simply liking a post on TikTok was framed as a major development and "social media comeback." Meanwhile, WNBA star Caitlin Clark — who has publicly hung out with Swift exactly once — was asked to account for the singer's low profile. (Clark replied that Swift and Kelce are in "vacation mode.") Even President Donald Trump got in on the action, proudly suggesting on Truth Social on May 16 that his previous post about hating Swift was the reason she is "no longer HOT."

The point I'd first made as a joke was starting to feel more literal. Could the public's attitude toward Swift and Kelce's brief, deserved retreat from the spotlight be a canary in the coal mine? Is the era of protecting work-life balance already over?

Taylor Swift is famously hard-working — but fans are still demanding more

In the past few years, corporate workers have proudly extolled the benefits of "quiet quitting," "gentle Fridays," and leaving six-figure tech jobs due to burnout. Meanwhile, Gen Z has led the charge in asserting their right to use allocated vacation and sick days without fear of being perceived as lazy or undedicated.

Swift — a self-described proud millennial, for the record — aligns more closely with the baby-boomer ethos. In a song from her latest album, she sings, "I cry a lot but I am so productive / It's an art." Those are not the words of a woman taking spontaneous mental health days. In fact, Swift is renowned for rarely canceling her concerts as long as she can avoid it, often performing in extreme heat or pouring rain.

One might assume that in 2025, Swifties would celebrate their idol finally taking a break after spending hundreds of hours onstage over the past two years. Instead, speculation about when Swift's next album might arrive intensifies by the day. As many pop-culture update accounts have noted, this is Swift's longest online hiatus since 2017, when she withdrew from the public eye ahead of releasing "Reputation." On April 26, a fan wrote on X, "4 months without the eras tour and taylor is nowhere to be found," paired with a gif of a hospital patient collapsing.

Us Weekly isn't the only publication demanding answers about Swift and Kelce's not-so-mysterious "hiatus." Page Six published the headline, "Why Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce have suddenly disappeared from the limelight." The tabloid is also running live updates about the singer's supposed movements, mostly fueled by anonymous sources and X posts from Taylor Nation, the social media arm of her PR team.

Sure, Swift is a billionaire who has little in common with most Americans. But the thrust of these demands — for output, for accountability, for toothless cooperation with the hand that feeds — feels familiar.

Elon Musk, who led the newly created Department of Government Efficiency for the first three months of Trump's second term, has dominated news cycles with surprise firings, 120-hour workweeks, and mandatory 9 p.m. all-hands meetings. (Musk has said he's still involved with DOGE on a reduced basis.) Tesla employees — and any federal workers who have been caught in Musk's crosshairs — are implicitly required to be logged on and locked in.

Musk isn't alone in this mindset. In recent months, many companies have implemented strict return-to-office mandates and other structural changes that, until recently, would have been criticized as too micro-manage-y.

Under these conditions, with men like Musk and Trump setting the national tone and anxieties about staying employed reaching new highs, it's no wonder why any time spent off the clock feels like a bubble under constant threat of popping — whether by a magazine cover questioning your disappearance or a Saturday email from HR asking for an itemized list of what you accomplished last week.

It's ironic, though, that just last year, Swift was chastised by critics for her hyper-productivity: Releasing a 31-track album in the midst of the Eras Tour led some to decry her business tactics as excessive, greedy, and overdone. Now, after a comparatively brief stretch of laying low and playing it cool, the script has flipped. But after two decades of extreme scrutiny, Swift is well acquainted with this tightrope walk. As she sings to open her 10th studio album, "I'm damned if I do, give a damn what people say."

In February 2021, Morgan Wallen's future as country music's golden goose was hanging in the balance.

First, there were the reports of drunken disorderly conduct during a night out in Nashville. Then, a video of Wallen flouting COVID protocols at a party in 2020 resulted in the postponement of his "Saturday Night Live" debut. But his then-latest incident, in which he was caught using a racial slur on camera, threatened to torpedo his career.

As quickly as the industry had lifted him up as the genre's next global star, Wallen was disinvited from awards shows, criticized by peers, blocked from radio play, and suspended by his record label. Country music cable network CMT announced it would scrub his appearances from its platforms, saying Wallen's words and actions were "in direct opposition to our core values that celebrate diversity, equity, and inclusion."

Then, something happened: People kept listening anyway.

Four years later, Wallen, now 32, is bigger than ever. His 2023 album "One Thing at a Time" spent 19 weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, the longest reign ever for a country album. He went back on "Saturday Night Live," where his latest viral controversy, in which he walked offstage while the cameras were still rolling, garnered him enough defenders to launch a cheeky merch line. (It's now sold out.) His new album, "I'm the Problem," only needed one day to become Spotify's most-streamed country album of 2025.

These days, it pays to be the problem.

The making and marketing of a modern antihero

Sonically, there's nothing particularly special about Wallen's brand of stadium country music. His signature Tennessee twang is pleasant enough, but it pales in comparison to the richness of Shaboozey's, for example, or the expressive texture of Chris Stapleton's. The melodies aren't any catchier than the average single by Luke Combs or Florida Georgia Line, and his lyrics are teeming with tropes: the word "whiskey" is sung no fewer than 18 times on "I'm the Problem."

In a genre historically obsessed with first-person storytelling and narrative cohesion, Wallen also isn't distinguished by his songwriting: he's not listed as the sole songwriter on any "I'm the Problem" tracks, and on 15 out of 37, he's not credited at all. (Forty-nine other songwriters are credited throughout.)

However, a closer look at the album's title track and opener offers insight into a core element of Wallen's appeal. On the taunting kiss-off, addressed to an ex who's equally flawed but can't bear to share the blame, Wallen is equal parts self-loathing and vindictive: "You hate that when you look at me, you halfway see yourself / And it got me thinkin' / If I'm the problem / You might be the reason."

These themes are woven into the fabric of Wallen's songs, many of which double as sly implications. He often sings about drunken screw-ups and toxic relationships that paint his friends, lovers, and listeners as co-conspirators, or even instigators. "Don't Think Jesus," his first solo release after returning to the spotlight in 2022, makes this theme explicit: "World likes to rear back and throw a few stones / So boy wants to throw a few stones of his own." In his big hit from last year, the Post Malone duet "I Had Some Help," Wallen reasons, "It ain't like I can make this kinda mess all by myself."

John Malanga, a 21-year-old rising senior at James Madison University, said he likes Wallen more than other country stars because he sees him as authentic: the themes of his music align with his unpolished, unapologetic public persona.

"He recognizes his flaws and yeah, he's kind of like this young guy who's a little bit of a douchebag sometimes, but that's his character," Malanga said. "It seems like he's really not afraid of that."

Devin Selvala, a Boston-based 27-year-old who said she's been in Wallen's top 1% of Spotify listeners for at least three years, agreed.

"Nowadays in the music industry, it's easy to be consumed by the machine," Selvala said. "He isn't one that's willing to be shape-shifted and evolved based on how the industry or how 'big music' wants him to be. I think he's very, 'Take me as I am or leave me.'"

Still, not everybody has accepted Wallen's career rebound. When Tate McRae was announced as a feature on "I'm the Problem," some of her fans objected based on Wallen's reputation and presumed political views, describing their team-up online as tone-deaf and meme-ing McRae as a MAGA Republican.

The Wallen fans I spoke to were well aware of the singer's slur scandal and didn't let it slide, either, calling his language "repulsive" and inexcusable. (Wallen, for his part, said much of the same at the time, instructing his supporters to stop defending him in a video shared online.) But none said the incident ultimately deterred them from enjoying and supporting Wallen's music, especially following his public apology.

"I know I've never called anybody the N-word, but I've called people other things and done really crappy things. I think everybody has," Laragh Thooft, a 32-year-old from Iowa, told me. "I would never stop listening to music that I like, or stop watching a movie that I like, because it's somebody doing really dumb and potentially hateful things if they're not seeming to me to be a dumb and hateful person."

"If we start doing that," she added, "then we're just gonna have to listen to only AI music."

Wallen doesn't innovate — he resonates

Wallen's relatability is also bolstered by streaming-optimized savvy.

His music is extremely popular on TikTok, a platform that rewards broad appeal and repetition to serve users content that echoes what they already know and love. To this end, Wallen and his collaborators are masters at integrating other sounds and genres into his well-worn country formula. His songs bear tones of '70s rock, radio-friendly pop, electronic, and hip-hop, and his duet partners are carefully selected to help legitimize those unions: Hardy ("Come Back as a Redneck"), Tate McRae ("What I Want"), Diplo ("Heartless"), Lil Durk ("Broadway Girls"). Wallen's most high-profile collaborator in recent years, Post Malone, has achieved similar success hopping between rap, pop, and country trends.

Wallen also releases a lot of music. Like, a lot. "One Thing at a Time" had 36 songs on its tracklist, just one fewer than "I'm the Problem." Its predecessor, 2021's "Dangerous," was a double album with 32 songs total, including bonus tracks.

Much has been written about the "more is more" strategy that excels in the streaming era, and Wallen is far from the only artist to take advantage of it. But he arguably does it better than anyone else. The proof is in the pudding, which is to say, his chart performances. As of Wednesday, tracks from "I'm the Problem" dominated nearly half of Spotify's Top 50 in the US, with four of the top five slots. "We see that the demand is there and we are happy to meet that demand," Wallen said in a press release for the album.

In the process, Wallen avoids disappointing any fans who prefer specific flavors in his sound. It's a familiar failsafe — something for everyone — and it suits Wallen's creative process, which he has characterized as relatively directionless. "We just went with our gut. That's what we do a lot of times, we don't necessarily have a plan," he told Rolling Stone of his debut album, "If I Know Me," in 2018. "Hopefully it sounds good."

Wallen may not be leading the writing or production of his songs, but there is something to be said for his sonic pliability. Paired with his everyman ease and nonconformist attitude, Wallen is the ideal avatar for an attractive idea — a feeling of freedom, of open roads and judgment-free zones.

After all, Wallen was right: He had some help. His record label resumed promoting his music a few months after he apologized for the slur incident in 2021. Last year, he was nominated for male video of the year at the CMT Music Awards and won entertainer of the year at the CMAs. He's hitched a ride on a powerful pendulum, one that's swinging away from DEI initiatives and toward self-styled free thinkers and rebels against social etiquette.

Consider "Working Man's Song," a track from Wallen's new album, which echoes recent anti-establishment, anti-elite hits like Oliver Anthony's "Rich Men North of Richmond" and Jason Aldean's "Try That In a Small Town": "I punch the clock, wanna punch a ticket to New York and punch the boss," Wallen sings. Never mind that Wallen's 2023 tour grossed over $300 million, making it the highest-grossing country tour of all time. When he moans about the indignity of 9-to-5 jobs and "underpaid checks," it strikes a nerve.

For a lot of Wallen's fans, Selvala theorized, "It's not just the music. It's the embodiment, the aesthetic of everything."

"When I think of country music, I think of long drives, being with my friends, feet in the grass, sunny and 75, beers in the cooler," she said. "A lot of amazing memories I have over the years, just like being with people I love, have Morgan playing in the background."

"I'm the Problem" concludes as it begins, with a double-edged confession. In the chorus of "I'm A Little Crazy," Wallen casts himself as a "coyote in a field of wolves" — scrappy, perhaps, and proud to stand out, yet no more wild than anyone else.

"Yeah, the only thing keeping these tracks on the train," Wallen sings, "Knowing I'm a little crazy, but the world's insane."

• Cassie is a singer and actor, best known for her top-10 hit single "Me & U."
• She met Sean Combs, aka Diddy, in 2006 and signed to his label Bad Boy.
• She filed a lawsuit against him in 2023 and is a key witness in his criminal sex-trafficking and racketeering trial.

Cassie burst onto the music scene in 2006 with an irresistible blend of pop and R&B.

Although the singer, whose legal name is Casandra Ventura, withdrew from the spotlight in the ensuing years, she's still beloved by fans of 2000s club jams.

In 2023, she filed a lawsuit against Sean "Diddy" Combs, alleging abuse throughout their relationship, including rape. An attorney for Combs denied the allegations to Business Insider. Cassie is now a key accuser in Combs' criminal sex-trafficking and racketeering trial, which began on Monday.

Here's everything to know about Cassie's career, her connection to Diddy, and what her life is like today.

Cassie broke out with the club hit 'Me & U'

Before launching her music career, Cassie had done some modeling for brands like Delia's.

In 2006, when she was 19 years old, she released her debut single "Me & U." It became her first hit, reaching No. 1 on Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart and No. 3 on the Hot 100.

"Me & U" set the tone for her self-titled debut album, which was praised by critics for its "hypnotic groove" and "flippant playfulness." Rolling Stone later described the album as "the most brilliantly minimalist R&B album of its era."

In a positive review for Slant, Sal Cinquemani also said, "'Me & U' has single-handedly revived his ailing Bad Boy imprint," referring to Combs, then known as Diddy.

Cassie signed to Bad Boy Records in 2006

An archived feature from 2008 said that Combs heard "Me & U" in a club and felt inspired to help Cassie's career.

Combs teamed up with Ryan Leslie, who wrote and produced the song, to record Cassie's album.

In 2008, she announced her plans to release her sophomore album.

"I guess I grew up a lot but I'm still in essence the same person," Cassie, then 21, told Billboard. "Lots has changed in my life, stuff that has made me think about things differently. I'm more vulnerable and you can hear my vocals better this time around. There's real emotion and a much realer connection with my fans."

At the time, Combs praised Cassie's musical development, which he said was reflected in the album.

"We pulled out, we took our time, we developed her for like, a year-and-a-half," he told Billboard in a 2008 interview. "People are just going to see her there and be like, 'Wow, she's really cocooned into a butterfly.'"

However, the album was delayed several times. She didn't release new music until 2012, when she surprise-dropped a set of three mixtapes. She continued releasing singles sporadically in the years following.

Cassie has dabbled in acting

Cassie played Sophie in the 2008 film "Step Up 2: The Streets," and has also appeared in "The Perfect Match" and on several episodes of "Empire."

Additionally, she appeared in the 2022 TV movie "Hip Hop Family Christmas Wedding."

Cassie was in a tumultuous relationship with Diddy for over a decade

Prior to her lawsuit, gossip news sites reported that Cassie and Combs maintained an on-again, off-again relationship. They reportedly started dating in 2007 and broke up in 2018.

Cassie's 2023 civil lawsuit accused Combs of serious allegations, painting the music mogul as an extremely violent and angry ex-partner.

It details several instances when the music mogul physically and mentally abused Cassie, as well as used intimidation tactics to keep her in the relationship. Combs quickly settled the suit shortly after it was filed.

Combs has been accused of sexual assault, rape, drugging, and other forms of violence in more than 50 civil lawsuits. He was arrested in September following a grand jury indictment and has denied the charges against him and all other allegations of sex abuse.

Combs' criminal sex-trafficking and racketeering trial began on Monday. Cassie, the prosecution's key witness in the case, took the stand on Tuesday and Wednesday to testify against Combs.

Cassie married Alex Fine in 2019 and now has two children, with a third on the way

Following her split from Combs in 2018, Cassie began a relationship with Alex Fine, a professional bull rider, model, and personal trainer.

In June 2019, the singer revealed that she and Fine were expecting their first child together. The couple tied the knot in a small, surprise wedding in September of that year in Malibu, California. Their daughter, Frankie Stone, was born in early December.

Cassie and Fine welcomed their second child, a baby girl named Sunny Cinco, in March 2021.

In February 2025, Cassie revealed that she's pregnant with their third child, a son.

Libby Torres contributed to an earlier version of this story.

• Kylie Jenner and Timothée Chalamet recently made their red carpet debut as a couple.
• They have reportedly been dating for about two years, but some fans still think it's an odd pairing.
• PR experts told BI creating an air of mystery or even confusion works to the couple's advantage.

Despite nearly two years of sightings, smooches, and soft launches, Kylie Jenner and Timothée Chalamet's relationship still feels like a glitch in the Hollywood matrix.

Even when the couple made their long-awaited red carpet debut last week after several PDA-filled public outings, some still struggled to accept the news.

"I still can't believe kylie & timothee is a real thing," one person wrote on X.

Jenner and Chalamet's relationship has been defined by skepticism since rumors of their pairing first surfaced in 2023. Social media users wondered what these two stars — one who rose to fame on a gaudy reality show, the other in the world of Oscar-worthy cinema — could possibly have in common.

"I firmly believe they sit together in complete silence," one person wrote on X. Such reactions to Jenner and Chalamet are not confined to social media's most hyperactive posters; I've heard them firsthand. A friend of mine recently said she couldn't shake the feeling that Jenner and Chalamet "don't exist in the same celebrity timeline."

Conventional wisdom suggests a relationship this puzzling could be bad business for both parties. But it turns out that confusing the pop-culture-following public may actually be a smart strategy.

Two public relations experts told Business Insider the stream of confused responses to this celebrity coupling represents a job well done by Jenner and Chalamet's respective PR teams.

It's a sign that both of their carefully cultivated individual brands are strong. So if you feel the friction from those brands clashing, you're not alone — that's precisely what makes the couple so fun to doubt.

A tale of 2 very different celebrities

Evan Nierman, the CEO of the crisis PR firm Red Banyan, described Jenner's brand as ultravisible, social media-heavy, and incessantly self-promotional. Meanwhile, Chalamet has made a point of pitching himself as an artist with discernment and taste.

"The problem that people are having is those two different personas seem at odds with one another," Nierman said. "The kind of brooding, superserious, superauthentic actor clashes with the Kardashian model, and I think that's probably why people are having such a hard time understanding the pairing of the two of them."

In reality, the public's reaction to Jenner and Chalamet as a couple has nothing to do with their personalities or compatibility behind closed doors. It has everything to do with brand positioning and integration strategies, likely orchestrated — or, at the very least, closely monitored — by large teams of publicists, image consultants, and managers (in Jenner's case, a "momager").

"PR can play a much bigger role in the things that you see coming out of Hollywood than most people at home would guess," Mike Fahey, the founder and CEO of the PR agency Fahey Communications, told BI. "A lot of those things that seem like happy accidents are actually by design."

But there's an important distinction between our traditional understanding of a "PR relationship," one that's been orchestrated by celebrities' respective teams to generate mutually beneficial publicity, and a real relationship that has been carefully managed by PR to maximize its impact.

Yes, celebrities have a lot to gain by cross-pollinating their fan bases. But the "Kymothée" curiosity feels different from, say, Tom Hiddleston getting papped wearing a T-shirt declaring his love for Taylor Swift.

Jenner and Chalamet are simply too odd a match for people to believe they have a calculated arrangement, or that they're being prodded to perform affection for the cameras. To what end? To cross-promote "Dune" on "The Kardashians"? To sell a Bob Dylan-inspired makeup line by Kylie Cosmetics?

So something must be keeping them together. Could it be… love? Well, yes, maybe. Why not?

The slow rollout of Kymothée was PR perfection

The media rollout of Jenner and Chalamet's relationship was drawn out over several months, nudged along by blurry photos of Jenner's car in Chalamet's driveway and anonymous tips sent to the gossip aggregator Deuxmoi before the two were eventually spotted kissing at a Beyoncé concert in September 2023. Even when Jenner and Chalamet attended several awards shows together, including two consecutive Golden Globes, they avoided the spectacle of a red carpet appearance as a couple until just last week.

A power couple's red carpet debut is a big deal in Hollywood — for comparison, Swift has never walked one with any boyfriend — but Jenner and Chalamet still kept it relatively low-key. Instead of posing for photos together at a star-studded event like the Met Gala or the Oscars, they staged their official debut at a sparsely attended ceremony in Rome: the David di Donatello Awards, where Chalamet received an honorary award for cinematic excellence.

Their relationship's incremental, tempered launch created plenty of space for suspicion and conspiracy theories to flourish. But counterintuitively, both Nierman and Fahey said that isn't necessarily a bad thing.

"It's leading to more confusion, but it's also doing exactly what it's intended to do, which is sparking ever more interest," Nierman said. "A series of slow strategic leaks that are then followed by a red carpet debut is a PR move that's designed to generate buzz and to get people talking."

If Jenner and Chalamet had opted for a hard launch — a formal announcement, perhaps, or a sit-down interview for a magazine cover — it could have encouraged fans to come to grips with their romance more quickly, or to understand their connection more deeply. That would take away the mystique, which is the very thing that's keeping us interested.

"If I were a Kardashian and I was sitting on this relationship, I would do the exact same thing. I would be like, 'I want to get as much mileage out of this as possible. It means that I don't have to do other things. Let's milk this for all it's worth,'" Fahey said. "They've created this media firestorm while doing very little."

More than two years after Jenner and Chalamet were linked, they still have valuable cards to play — their first selfie shared on Instagram, for example, or Chalamet's debut appearance on "The Kardashians."

"When that happens, it's going to be a big cash cow payday for them, and that's why they're so deliberate in what they do," Fahey said of the Oscar nominee's seemingly inevitable appearance on Jenner's Hulu reality show. "There are no accidents in the Kardashian family."

Each new milestone will likely spawn a new round of headlines, TikToks, and heated debates in my group chats. I anticipate receiving many more texts like, "I can't believe they're still together," and, "I still don't get it."

Here, "still" is the operative word. The ongoing disbelief that Jenner and Chalamet are a match is not a symptom of a PR rollout gone wrong. In fact, it's probably the opposite.

"It's been played to perfection," Nierman said. "It keeps us guessing. It keeps us talking, and that's entirely the point."

• Sean "Diddy" Combs is a father of seven. 
• The family includes Quincy, Justin, Christian, Chance, Jessie James, D'Lila Star, and Love Sean.
• Combs' adult children have been showing support at his criminal trial in New York.

Sean "Diddy" Combs is receiving support from his family as his criminal sex-trafficking and racketeering trial got underway on Monday, with all six of his adult children present at the courthouse in New York City.

The rapper and entrepreneur has seven children in total, whom he co-parents with Misa Hylton, Sarah Chapman, and Dana Tran. His ex-girlfriend Kim Porter died in 2018 from lobar pneumonia.

"I've been blessed to be taught and mentored by the mothers of my children," Combs told Teen Vogue the following year. "I've realized that in doing a lot of praying and asking for prayers and guidance, that it's going to take a village to surround us with that love and care."

Keep reading for a complete breakdown of the Comb family dynamic.

Barnaby Lane and Keyaira Boone contributed to previous versions of this article.

Quincy Taylor Brown was born in 1991. He is Combs' adopted son with Kim Porter.

Quincy Taylor Brown was born to Kim Porter and Albert Joseph Brown III (aka producer Al B. Sure!) in 1991. He is the namesake of musical legend Quincy Jones, who mentored his father.

Porter and Combs began their longtime on-and-off relationship in 1994. Combs has said he adopted Porter's son when Quincy was still a toddler, although Brown has claimed the adoption was never official. (In the Peacock documentary, "Diddy: The Making of a Bad Boy," Brown says the adoption narrative was "crafted by a publicist" to make Combs look more parental.)

In 2018, Quincy published an open letter for GlobalGrind.com, in which he opened up about his relationship with Combs.

"Sean Combs, also known as 'Diddy,' has been a father figure in my life for as long as I can remember," he wrote. "He is the one who helped mold me into the person I am today and I will always try to live up to his expectations."

Quincy currently works as a singer, songwriter, and actor. He has appeared in "Power Book III: Raising Kanan" on Starz and the FOX musical hit "Star."

Combs and Misa Hylton welcomed Justin Combs in 1993.

Combs dated Misa Hylton, a stylist and fashion designer, in the early '90s. She gave birth to their son, Justin Combs, in 1993.

The couple appeared in the music video for "Big Poppa" by The Notorious B.I.G., who was a close friend of Combs' before his death. Justin also appeared in the music video for Biggie's 1994 single "Juicy."

More recently, Justin worked as the executive producer behind the interview series "Respectfully, Justin" on Revolt TV, the network his father co-founded in 2013.

Combs and Porter welcomed Christian Combs in 1994.

Christian Combs has continued in his father's musical footsteps, performing under the name King Combs.

His 2022 single "Can't Stop Won't Stop" shares the same title as a 1998 hit by The LOX featuring Christian's father (who was going by Puff Daddy at the time).

He also joined Combs onstage at the 2023 MTV Video Music Awards. The father-son duo teamed up for renditions of "Bad Boy for Life" and "Mo Money Mo Problems." They later dedicated their performance to Porter.

Sarah Chapman gave birth to Chance Combs in 2006.

Sarah Chapman was a close friend of Combs when she welcomed their daughter, Chance Combs, in 2006. At the time, Combs was still dating Porter, who was also pregnant. Porter has said his infidelity was a major factor in their split.

As an adult, Chance has remained close with her half-siblings and pursued a career in fashion. She starred in a "Clueless"-inspired campaign for Glam-Aholic Lifestyle, a Black-owned luxury handbag brand, alongside her twin sisters.

Porter also gave birth to twin daughters, D'Lila Star Combs and Jessie James Combs, in 2006.

Porter and Combs appeared on the cover of Essence together during her pregnancy with the twins. D'Lila Star and Jessie James were born five months after their older sister, Chance.

The two girls have followed in their mother's glamorous footsteps. Along with Chance, they walked in a 2021 Dolce & Gabbana fashion show and aspire to become full-time models.

They also joined their father onstage at the 2023 VMAs, dancing during his performance of "I'll Be Missing You."

In 2022, Diddy announced the birth of his daughter, Love Sean Combs.

"I'm so blessed to welcome my baby girl Love Sean Combs to the world," Combs announced on X (formerly Twitter) on December 10, 2022.

He added that his family members were thrilled about their newest addition.  

"Mama Combs, Quincy, Justin, Christian, Chance, D'Lila, Jessie and myself all love you so much! God is the Greatest," he wrote.

Although Combs did not announce the identity of Love Sean's mother, TMZ reported that her name is Dana Tran, a cybersecurity professional.

• Kendrick Lamar and SZA performed at MetLife Stadium on Thursday for their Grand National Tour.
• Lamar performed "Euphoria" and "Not Like Us," keeping his beef with Drake at the forefront.
• Video interludes show Lamar in a faux deposition, seemingly poking fun at Drake's lawsuit.

When Kendrick Lamar and SZA took the stage at New Jersey's MetLife Stadium on the latest stop on their Grand National Tour, the duo's combined star power was a thing to behold (not to mention a major selling point for the ever-swelling cost of a concert ticket).

But there's another superstar whose name doesn't appear on the poster whose presence is felt throughout the show. And if you've been paying any attention to pop culture over the past year, you already know who I'm referring to.

Drake hangs like a wraith over the Grand National Tour, his business on Earth very much unfinished. Lamar makes sure of that: Instead of letting their rap beef grow stale, he performs two of his explosive Drake diss tracks in full ("Euphoria" and "Not Like Us") in addition to his hit collaboration with Future and Metro Boomin, "Like That," which was responsible for reigniting the feud in the first place. (For her part, SZA sings "Rich Baby Daddy," a collab with Drake from 2023, but erases Drake's contributions from her performance. The shade!)

These musical war cries are punctuated by fireworks, showers of sparks, and plumes of fire that burst from the stage with a vengeance. Lamar's production choices assume that his audience will rally behind him as the music industry's self-described "biggest hater," and on Thursday, that assumption paid off generously: The crowd of over 50,000 people was all too eager to sing along and revel in the bloodshed.

Some of the evening's loudest lines in the crowd were Drake-specific insults, including Lamar's incredulous, "What is it, the braids?" from "Euphoria" and, of course, the notorious "Not Like Us" rallying cry: "Tryna strike a chord, and it's probably A-minor."

The latter was the final solo track that Lamar performed — an emphatic, hard-earned finale. During Lamar's third verse, a mini history lesson that dubs Drake a "colonizer," my friend turned to me and deadpanned, "That man is so done."

While "Not Like Us" can still be enjoyed as a banger in its own right (shoutout to Lamar's producer, Mustard, for that indelible instrumental), by making his diss tracks a cornerstone of his set list, Lamar ensures that his triumph over Drake stays top of mind.

A full year after Drake's final diss track was released and Lamar was crowned victor by fans and critics, Lamar has baked this beef into his mythology as an artist. It wasn't enough just to win — he wants to be known forever as the winner.

Even in the face of legal threats, Lamar hasn't backed down. In fact, the lawsuit Drake filed against their shared record label, which Universal Music Group recently moved to dismiss, has arguably only emboldened Lamar's taunts.

The Grand National Tour is threaded with video interludes, many of which depict Lamar in a mock deposition. He chuckles when the off-camera interviewer accuses him of being "addicted to attention" and asks if his harshest lyrics should be taken as threats. "Whatever you wanna take it," Lamar replies.

In another clip, Lamar is asked to account for where he was on May 4, 2024, the day he unleashed "Not Like Us." Lamar shakes his head, protesting that he has too much going on to remember specific dates, driving his point home even further — that his dominance has no plottable beginning or foreseeable end.

"Not Like Us" was celebrated by fans as a musical kill shot, but even if Lamar's enemies are metaphorically dead, he'll labor to keep their memory alive. There's no rest for the wicked.

• A$AP Rocky and Rihanna have been close friends and collaborators for over a decade.
• Rocky confirmed their relationship in May 2021, calling Rihanna "the one."
• The musicians are expecting their third child to join sons RZA and Riot.

Rihanna and A$AP Rocky became partners nearly a decade after they teamed up for the first time.

Throughout their friendship and blossoming romance, Rihanna kept busy with chart-topping songs like "Work" and "We Found Love" — as well as billion-dollar companies like Savage X Fenty and Fenty Beauty — while Rocky, whose real name is Rakim Mayers, also built a formidable reputation in the music industry with hits like "F**kin' Problems" and "Sundress."

The two artists have always been supportive of each other's careers, whether starring together in music videos or partnering up for skincare campaigns. They finally confirmed their rumored romance in 2021 and welcomed their first child the following year.

Here's a complete timeline of Rihanna and Rocky's relationship so far. 

Ashley Simone Johnson contributed reporting to this article.

September 6, 2012: They perform together at the MTV Video Music Awards 

Rihanna and Rocky first paired up when she tapped him to feature on the remix of her song, "Cockiness (Love It)," which was released online on September 7, 2012.

The day before, they performed their remix together at the VMAs, where Rocky grabbed Rihanna's butt and gave her a peck on the cheek.

Rihanna later told Vogue the PDA wasn't planned.

"He grabbed my ass on stage. That was not part of the rehearsal!" she revealed. "I was like, 'What are you doing!?'"

She also said her team was shocked when she didn't get upset: "My manager was like, 'Oh, God, she must like this guy a little bit. She never lets this shit slide.'"

March 2013: Rocky joins Rihanna on tour

Rihanna recruited the "Goldie" rapper to be her opening act on the Diamonds World Tour.

The tour included 28 stops and ended on May 5, 2013. 

April 10, 2013: Rocky denies dating rumors

Rocky clarified his relationship status while on set for A$AP Ferg's "Work" remix video.

"Yeah, I expected people to say that me and Rihanna were sleeping around. We're just cool," he told MTV. "Man, dudes be tryin' to front like they tappin' Rihanna's [anatomy] and all that, but they don't be hittin' it."

"I aint hittin' it either. I'm just cool with her. I don't even look at her like that. She's sexy, but I'm good," he continued. 

"That's really a friend. She supports me, man. She's bringing me out, she ain't have to do that. That girl came to my Coachella a year ago. I got nothing but love for Rih Rih; that's the homey right there. I ain't tryin' to get in no trouble with no Rihanna rumors."

September 2013: Rihanna stars in Rocky's 'Fashion Killa' music video

Rihanna starred as Rocky's love interest in his video for "Fashion Killa," a single from his debut studio album, "Long. Live. A$AP."

In an interview with 106 & Park, the rapper was asked why he chose Rihanna to be in his video, to which he replied, "She's a fashion killa in my eyes. I respect her jigginess. I respect her fashion sense."

He added: "The chemistry was just organic. We were cool, we were chilling, it was whatever. We were faded. We were having fun."

While filming the music video, they took to Instagram to post "couple-y" behind-the-scenes photos, according to Teen Vogue.

At this time, however, Rocky was reportedly dating Chanel Iman.

May 27, 2015: Rocky discusses his breakup with Iman and his relationship with Rihanna 

In an interview with Hot 97, the rapper opened up about his split from the model after nearly two years of dating.

"I was so in love. To this day, it's all good. I think for me, we're young and it was something that was so real that it was so serious," he explained. "I would say perfect girl, wrong time. I'm not OK with losing her, but that's the way of the world. It's not meant to work right now."

When asked about a potential romance with Rihanna, he replied, "It never happened. If it happened, then it would have happened. We didn't do that."

"You never know," Rocky continued. "That's not what I'm looking forward to. I'm looking forward to the friendship that I already have with all these females because life is so complicated."

June 2018: The duo are photographed looking cozy during Paris Fashion Week

The pair sat side-by-side in the front row at a Louis Vuitton show. They were photographed smiling and getting close, Rocky's arm draped around Rihanna.

At the time, Rihanna was apparently dating Saudi businessman Hassan Jameel, while Rocky had recently been linked to Kendall Jenner.

September 2018: Rocky attends Rihanna's Diamond Ball 

The rapper attended the annual event in New York City to support Rihanna's foundation, which helps raise funds to improve healthcare and education programs worldwide. 

January 2019: Rocky opens up about his love life

During an interview on The Angie Martinez Show, Rocky confirmed he was in a new relationship with a "regular" girl.

"I prefer long-term friendships and relationships and acquaintances as opposed to one-night stands or just going out with somebody, then having them be your ex and hating them," he said. "That's why, for me, if I get involved with a female, nine times out of 10, she's going to be in my life from that point moving forward."

At the time, Rocky was rumored to be dating Top Shop model Jasmine Daniels. Eight months later, however, he stepped out with Brazilian model Daiane Sodré.

Later that year, Rocky revealed he's "been a sex addict for some time."

"These are things people stay away from, they don't like to admit. I can't be embarrassed about it. I wear my heart on my sleeve. I won't do nothing that I'm not proud speaking of," he told Martinez during an episode of "Untold Stories of Hip Hop."

When Martinez asked if he's "capable of a monogamous relationship," Rocky replied, "Yes, of course."

September 2019: Rocky attends the Diamond Ball again 

The "Babushka Boi" rapper came out to support his friend's charity event for the second year in a row.

December 2, 2019: Rocky and Rihanna pose for red carpet photos at the British Fashion Awards

The superstars were by each other's sides for yet another event, the British Fashion Awards, where Rihanna accepted the Urban Luxe award for her Fenty sportswear.

Rihanna shared a series of photos on Instagram to mark the occasion, including two photos of herself with Rocky on the red carpet. She wrote in the caption, "Thank you @asaprocky for representing us on the carpet and always being so supportive of @Fenty !!"

December 11, 2019: Rihanna is spotted in the crowd at Rocky's concert in Stockholm

Shortly after Rihanna was reportedly hanging out with Rocky's entourage after his Rolling Loud set in New York City, the beauty mogul was spotted in the crowd at the rapper's concert in Sweden.

January 17, 2020: They hang out at the 2020 Yams Day Benefit Concert

Following her widely reported split from Jameel, Rihanna was seen hanging out with Rocky and Drake at the annual charity concert, which Rocky organizes and headlines with his musical group, A$AP Mob. 

Later that same day, Rihanna and Rocky were photographed sharing laughs while attending a concert in New York, according to The Sun.

February 11, 2020: They share a meal at Nice Guy amid reports of 'hooking up'

The pair organized a clandestine meet-up at the West Hollywood restaurant Nice Guy. As reported by OK! Magazine, they arrived separately, and Rocky kept his hood over his head throughout dinner.

A few days prior, an anonymous source told Us Weekly, "Rihanna and A$AP are hanging out and hooking up. They're having fun and have always had chemistry."

Summer 2020: Their relationship becomes serious during a cross-country road trip

In a 2022 interview with Vogue, Rihanna confirmed that it "took a while" for Rocky to get out of the "friend zone," but said they began dating at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic.

That summer, they drove from Los Angeles to New York together in a tour bus. 

"He became my family in that time," she said. 

According to Vogue editor Chioma Nnadi, "They'd park and Rihanna would grill barefoot while Rocky tie-dyed T-shirts picked up at the gas station."

"I love the simple things but also the grand adventures," Rihanna told Nnadi. "There's no pretentious my-brand-your-brand bullshit, it's just us living. I just feel like I can do any part of life by his side."

July 2020: Rihanna recruits Rocky for her Fenty Skin campaign

The two artists did a photo shoot together to promote the Fenty Beauty founder's new skincare line. 

August 26, 2020: Rocky interviews Rihanna for Vogue 

During a filmed interview, the two seemed giddy and couldn't stop laughing as Rihanna answered 15 questions from Rocky, mainly about fashion and skincare.

At one point, Rihanna told the rapper he has "pretty skin."

She also asked him about the hardest part about working on her Fenty Skin campaign, to which he replied, "I think the hardest part about working with you is not goofin' off and laughing the whole time."

"Like, this shit is comedy. That's the hardest part," he continued. "You know, people be so cool it's hard not to, not to laugh. That's all. But it was fun. The hardest part is not having too much fun. You just forget that it's still, you know, work at the end of the day."

At the end of the interview, Rocky thanked Rihanna for "identifying my beauty as a man."

"I appreciate you, like for real, for real," he continued. "It was good catching up with you and everything."

November 30, 2020: People magazine confirms reports of their romance

After months of dating rumors, an anonymous source told People that Rihanna and Rocky had made their relationship official. At the time, neither star directly corroborated this claim.

Late 2020: They grab dinner in New York and stroll around the city together

In November 2020, Rihanna and Rocky were seen having dinner with a group of friends at the Beatrice Inn, a restaurant in the West Village, according to Page Six.

The following month, the couple was spotted walking side-by-side at night, wearing winter coats and masks.

An anonymous source told People, "They've been inseparable the past few weeks," adding, "It's a new relationship, but they both seem very into it."

December 29, 2020: Rocky meets Rihanna's family in Barbados

During the Christmas holiday, Rihanna brought Rocky on vacation to Barbados, her home country.

TMZ published photos of the couple jet skiing, tubing, and going on dinner dates. They were also photographed kissing on a boat, all but confirming their romantic relationship.

Rihanna later told Vogue that she brought Rocky home to meet her family.

"My mother has a really good read on people. She observes first and then she'll move slowly. I guess I'm like that too," she said. "There are some guys that I've dated that she won't even look at to this day. But she was charmed by him from the jump."

After returning to New York in January, the couple was seen having dinner with a group of friends at the Italian restaurant Emilio's Ballato, according to E! News. A few months later, their courtship was still going strong; they attended a dinner party in April at the Los Angeles hot spot Delilah.

May 19, 2021: Rocky confirms their romantic relationship and calls Rihanna 'the one'

In a cover story for GQ, the rapper called Rihanna "my lady" and "the love of my life," officially confirming the dating rumors.

"So much better when you got 'the one.' She amounts to probably, like, a million of the other ones," he said. "I think when you know, you know. She's the one."

Rocky also revealed that Rihanna had "absolutely" inspired some of his new music and has given feedback on his working projects. 

"It's important to have somebody that you can bounce those creative juices and ideas off of. It's just a different point of view," he said.

The Harlem-born hitmaker even discussed parenthood, saying he's "absolutely" ready to become a father, "if that's in my destiny."

"I think I'd be an incredible, remarkably, overall amazing dad," he told GQ. "I would have a very fly child. Very."

June 27, 2021: Rocky literally sweeps Rihanna off her feet

During a date night in Manhattan, the self-titled "Pretty Boy Flacko" scooped Rihanna up and carried her through the Lower East Side, according to TMZ.

July 10, 2021: Rihanna and Rocky are spotted filming a new project in New York City

The musicians were seen hugging and holding hands as they took a stroll through the Bronx with a film crew. 

The following day, the couple was photographed sitting and smiling on a fire escape in the same borough, film crew on hand.

They coordinated with colorful, fuzzy attire: Rihanna donned a pink oversized coat, while Rocky wore a puffy green Eskimo hat. 

Later that month, the pair traveled to Florida together. They dined at Miami's World Famous House of Mac and had dinner with the restaurant's owner, Derrick Turton, according to the Daily Mail.

September 6, 2021: Nicki Minaj shares a photo with Rihanna and Rocky

The happy couple spent an evening hanging out at the Petty residence, posing for a cozy photo on the sofa with Minaj, as well as her husband and son.

Minaj posted the group shot on Instagram, writing in the caption, "Love her downnnnnnn." She also added the hashtags "Queen Rih" and "Caribbean girls run it."

September 13, 2021: They make their red carpet debut as a couple at the Met Gala

The couple arrived late to the famed fundraiser, but made plenty of time to pose together on the red carpet.

The Fenty Beauty founder wore an all-black Balenciaga ensemble for the "In America: A Lexicon of Fashion" theme, while the stylish rapper wore a patterned multicolored quilt designed by ERL. 

Rocky later took off the quilt to reveal a suit underneath, while his girlfriend looked on lovingly.

It was the first time Rihanna had made an official public appearance with a man since the 2013 Grammy Awards.

January 31, 2022: The couple reveals they're expecting their first child

Rihanna and Rocky were photographed walking hand-in-hand through his hometown of Harlem on January 28.

In the set of photos — published by Page Six, the Daily Mail, and People three days later — Rihanna's coat was strategically unbuttoned to reveal her growing baby bump, which she adorned with a bejeweled body chain.

It would be the first child for both Rihanna and Rocky, who had previously discussed their eagerness for parenthood.

Back in March 2020, Rihanna told British Vogue that she planned to have "three or four" kids in the next 10 years, even if she didn't have a partner.

During her third trimester, Rihanna told Vogue that she and Rocky weren't necessarily planning to start a family, "but certainly not planning against it."

"I don't know when I ovulate or any of that type of shit. We just had fun," she said. "And then it was just there on the test. I didn't waste any time. I called him inside and showed him. Then I was in the doctor's office the next morning and our journey began."

May 5, 2022: Rihanna stars in the music video for Rocky's 'D.M.B.'

The "D.M.B." music video was revealed to be the project that Rocky and Rihanna were filming in July 2021.

In one scene, Rocky wears a grill that clearly says "Marry me?" while Rihanna wears one that says "I do."

In another scene, Rocky removes a red veil from Rihanna's face, reminiscent of a wedding. The couple then walks down a hallway arm-in-arm while people clap and throw flower petals.

Rocky wrote and directed the video, which he billed as a "ghetto love tale" on his Instagram.

May 13, 2022: Rihanna gives birth to a baby boy

According to reports, Rihanna and Rocky welcomed a son on May 13, 2022, although the news didn't make headlines for another week.

Five months later, the couple still hadn't shared their son's name.

"We just didn't get around to it yet really," Rihanna told the Washington Post in November, per Hypebae. "We've just been living, but I guess there's a certain freedom that comes with kind of just, like, getting it out there."

December 19, 2022: Rihanna shares the first video of their son

For her TikTok debut, Rihanna shared the first look at her baby boy in a car seat, laughing and smiling at the camera.

Rihanna had previously told Entertainment Tonight that her son is a "happy baby" and that waking up to his face is her favorite part of motherhood.

February 12, 2023: Rihanna reveals her second pregnancy while headlining the Super Bowl halftime show

Rihanna took the stage at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, in a red jumpsuit — strategically unzipped to reveal her growing baby bump.

A representative for the singer confirmed her pregnancy to The Hollywood Reporter immediately following the performance.

February 15, 2023: Their family is featured on the cover of British Vogue

Rihanna, Rocky, and their son posed for the magazine's March 2023 issue, shot by photographers Inez & Vinoodh.

For her first in-depth interview since giving birth, Rihanna opened up about her "legendary" experience with motherhood thus far.

"It's everything. You really don't remember life before, that's the craziest thing ever," she said. "You literally try to remember it — and there are photos of my life before — but the feeling, the desires, the things that you enjoy, everything, you just don't identify with it because you don't even allow yourself mentally to get that far, because... Because it doesn't matter."

She also said becoming parents has made her and Rocky stronger as a couple.

"We're best friends with a baby," she said. "We have to be on the same page, but we've always kind of had that in our relationship. Everything changes when you have a baby but I wouldn't say it's done anything but made us closer."

The couple continued to decline to reveal their son's name, insisting on calling him "baby" in the presence of Vogue's reporter.

May 1, 2023: Once again, Rihanna and Rocky walk the Met Gala red carpet together

Rihanna showed off her growing baby bump while wearing custom Valentino Haute Couture.

May 10, 2023: Their son's name is revealed to be RZA

One year after Rihanna gave birth to her son, The Daily Mail obtained a copy of his birth certificate and revealed his name: RZA Athelston Mayers.

His first name is likely a tribute to the legendary hip-hop artist RZA (pronounced "Rizza"), leader of the Wu-Tang Clan.

August 2023: The couple welcomes their second child, a son named Riot Rose

On August 21, 2023, TMZ broke the news that Rihanna had given birth earlier in the month, although the exact date isn't known. 

People later confirmed the report, citing anonymous sources close to the couple.

The following month, Access Hollywood obtained a copy of the birth certificate, which listed the baby boy's name as Riot Rose Mayers. He shares a first name with Rocky's 2023 single "Riot (Rowdy Pipe'n)."

Rihanna later revealed the name was proposed by Pharrell Williams, who produced Rocky's song.

"He gave us this name thinking it was going to be a girl, because he had seen something online," she told Harper's Bazaar. "Pharrell is very deep. He's not surface. He will never say anything and just leave it there with a full stop. He will have the entire history: the energy, the time, the month that it is."

May 5, 2025: Rihanna reveals her third pregnancy at the Met Gala

Before arriving at the Met Gala, Rihanna was photographed outside the Carlyle Hotel wearing a form-fitting Miu Miu set that showed off her baby bump.

Hours later, Rihanna arrived on the Met Gala red carpet in a carefully tailored Marc Jacobs suit dress, nailing the theme of "Superfine: Tailoring Black Style."

Rocky, who was a co-chair for the event, told reporters on the red carpet that it felt "amazing" to reveal the family's news.

"It's time that we show the people what we was cooking up," he said, per the Associated Press. "I'm glad everybody's happy for us 'cause we definitely happy, you know."

However, Rihanna also shut down wedding rumors during a red carpet interview with Entertainment Tonight.

Asked if her recent bridal collection for Savage X Fenty meant she had "another milestone" to share with fans, Rihanna replied, "No, girl, you know I don't keep secrets very well."

• The season finale of Hulu's scripted miniseries "Good American Family" aired on Wednesday.
• The ripped-from-the-headlines drama was inspired by Natalia Grace, a Ukrainian orphan with dwarfism.
• Series creator Katie Robbins said there are no plans for a second season, but "never say never."

Warning: Spoilers ahead for "Good American Family."

Hulu's scripted miniseries "Good American Family," which recounts the true story of Natalia Grace's disastrous adoption from multiple perspectives, aired its first season finale on Wednesday.

The dramatic episode, titled "Blood on Her Hands," follows Natalia (Imogen Faith Reid) as a legal case is mounted against her adoptive parents, Kristine and Michael Barnett, played by Ellen Pompeo and Mark Duplass.

In real life, the Barnetts were arrested and charged with neglect after leaving Natalia in Indiana and moving to Canada. They had adopted her in 2010, believing her to be a 6-year-old Ukrainian orphan, but later claimed Natalia was an adult con artist pretending to be a child. (Natalia has denied all their accusations.)

The Barnetts petitioned a court to re-age Natalia, successfully changing her legal birth year from 2003 to 1989. However, the Barnetts remained her legal guardians as a result of Natalia's disability.

Natalia, who has a rare form of dwarfism called spondyloepiphyseal dysplasia, was eventually adopted by another set of parents, Cynthia and Antwon Mans, played by Christina Hendricks and Jerod Haynes.

In the TV show, as in real life, the Barnetts don't go to jail; the case against Michael falls apart when the judge rules against any mention of Natalia's age in court. The charges against Kristine were later dismissed.

Despite the harsh legal verdict, causing Natalia to fear the world would see her as a "monster," the finale gestures toward a happier future for Natalia with the Mans family — but that's not where Natalia's real story ended.

People interviewed in season three of ID's docuseries, "The Curious Case of Natalia Grace," said they witnessed abuse in the Mans household. Natalia also confirmed she'd left the family, and as of January 2025, she said she was living with another family, the DePauls, in New York. Cynthia and Antwon Mans did not respond to BI's request for comment on the abuse allegations.

Will "Good American Family" return for a second season to keep following the twists and turns of Natalia's story? Here's what we know.

'Good American Family' creator Katie Robbins said there are no plans for season 2, but 'never say never'

"Good American Family" was originally created as an eight-episode limited series.

As of writing, Hulu has not announced a renewal. The series creator, Katie Robbins, told TV Insider that the showrunners have not planned for a second season.

"This series ends very specifically where it does," Robbins said. "At the end of that trial, when there is empirical, scientific fact [available about] Natalia's age, and having that not change anything in the court of law. Having that be not admissible in the court of law really lands this horrifying idea — in a show that grapples with horror tropes — that is the most kind of horrifying thing at the end of the day, that that doesn't matter. That doesn't change anything."

Although she didn't definitively rule out another season, Robbins explained the "Good American Family" finale was constructed in a way for the show's key themes — the deceptive effects of bias, the dangers of performative charity, the fallibility of the justice system — to land "sharply."

"I think that to do an additional story here, there would need to be a reason, something to say with it," Robbins said. "And never say never, but that would be the thing: 'Why tell it?'"

• Kacey Musgraves recently opened up about the backlash to her 2013 single, "Follow Your Arrow."
• The pro-LGBTQ song was blacklisted by country radio stations but later became a fan-favorite hit.
• Beyoncé, Lil Nas X, and Loretta Lynn have faced similar pushback from country music gatekeepers.

Country music has a stricter reputation than most popular genres, which has led to territorial battles over what gets played on the radio and who wins awards.

Country gatekeepers in the music industry like radio programmers and awards show voters are known for imposing a high barrier to entry, which fans say keeps the genre authentic. In practice, however, the barrier has been enforced in an attempt to bar Black artists, outspoken women, and progressive themes from Nashville.

Keep reading for six of the most notable and controversial country hits, listed below in reverse chronological order of release.

Some radio stations initially refused to play "Texas Hold 'Em" by Beyoncé.

Beyoncé delighted fans by surprise-releasing "Texas Hold 'Em" during the 2024 Super Bowl. The boot-stomping honky-tonk song was promoted as the lead single off her forthcoming album, "Cowboy Carter."

However, some country radio stations did not share the Beyhive's excitement for new Beyoncé music — including one in Oklahoma, which rejected a fan's request to play "Texas Hold 'Em."

"We do not play Beyoncé on KYKC as we are a country music station," the response read.

Still, "Texas Hold 'Em" debuted at No. 1 on Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart, making Beyoncé the first Black woman in history to achieve the feat. It also reached No. 1 on the Hot 100, where it remained for two weeks.

Lil Nas X's "Old Town Road" was booted from Billboard's country charts.

Lil Nas X caused a stir in 2019 when he harnessed his social-media savvy to transform "Old Town Road" — a country-rap novelty full of Nashville tropes like bull rides, cowboy hats, and Wrangler jeans — into a viral hit.

While the song launched trends on TikTok and racked up views on YouTube, the music industry scrambled to categorize its success. Billboard abruptly pulled the song from its country charts, saying it "does not currently merit inclusion" due to a lack of unspecified "elements."

The decision sparked widespread backlash among fans and music critics, many of whom accused the magazine of holding Black country artists to a different standard (Billboard denied that race played a factor).

Shortly after, Lil Nas X released an "Old Town Road" remix featuring Billy Ray Cyrus (of "Achy Breaky Heart" fame to some and "Hannah Montana" fame to others). The song shot to No. 1 on the Hot 100 and reigned atop the chart for 19 weeks, setting a record that remains unbroken. (The feat has since been matched by another country hit by a genre-blending Black musician, Shaboozey.)

"Old Town Road" also became the fastest song in history to be certified diamond and won two Grammy Awards.

Beyoncé's "Daddy Lessons" was rejected by CMA Awards viewers and the Grammy country committee.

When Beyoncé announced "Cowboy Carter" in 2024, she said the album was inspired by a time when she "did not feel welcomed" by the entrenched Nashville establishment.

"Because of that experience, I did a deeper dive into the history of Country music and studied our rich musical archive," Beyoncé explained on Instagram. "The criticisms I faced when I first entered this genre forced me to propel past the limitations that were put on me."

Many fans speculate the pivotal event was the 2016 CMA Awards, where The Chicks joined Beyoncé for a duet of "Daddy Lessons," a standout country song from her then-new album, "Lemonade."

During their performance, cutaways to the audience seemed to betray a sense of discomfort. Some people reportedly walked out.

The Chicks later confirmed they felt a frosty reception from the room: "They treated us very weird backstage," Natalie Maines told The New York Times in 2020. "For them to disrespect her that way was disgusting."

Reactions on social media were similarly harsh, often turning outright racist. As Vox reported at the time, the CMA Awards fanned the flames by removing a promotional video that featured Beyoncé from its social media accounts.

Later that year, AP News reported that Beyoncé's team had submitted "Daddy Lessons" to country categories at the Grammys, but the Recording Academy's country committee had rejected it.

In public, however, country musicians defended the song, including Blake Shelton, Karen Fairchild of Little Big Town, and Dierks Bentley, who told AP News, "There is just something intangible about it that it feels like a country song."

More recently, Beyoncé kicked off her Cowboy Carter Tour, which features "Daddy Lessons" on the set list — much to the delight of the Beyhive. "DADDY LESSONS!! THE REASON WE ARE ALL HERE," one fan wrote on X.

Kacey Musgraves said her pro-LGBTQ song "Follow Your Arrow" was "banned by country radio."

During a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Kacey Musgraves said she faced pushback about releasing her 2013 single, "Follow Your Arrow."

In the twangy guitar ballad, Musgraves skewers double standards for women, salutes same-sex love, and advocates for smoking weed, "if that's something you're into." She wrote the song with Brandy Clark and Shane McAnally, who are both gay. McAnally said he remembers the label telling Musgraves the song would be "suicide at radio."

Indeed, upon the song's release, several country radio programmers told Billboard they wouldn't be able to play the song, especially in Southern areas that tend to lean more conservative.

When Musgraves performed "Follow Your Arrow" at the 2013 CMA Awards, the lyrics were repeatedly censored, including the line "roll up a joint."

Nevertheless, that same night, she took home the award for best new artist. At the 2014 ceremony, "Follow Your Arrow" won song of the year.

Today, "Follow Your Arrow" is known as one of Musgraves' signature anthems and is credited with helping to usher in a more inclusive era for country music.

"Oh my gosh, it was so controversial," Musgraves told THR. "It ended up tanking — it was banned by country radio. But I would never trade that for the love and the people it brought to my world. I'm not going to present a watered-down version of myself to be accepted. I'll fucking shovel shit for a living at a horse barn, and I'll be really happy. Or I'll just be a songwriter. Anyway, it ended up working out."

"Goodbye Earl" by The Chicks sparked debate and pushback from country radio programmers.

The three women of The Chicks (formerly known as the Dixie Chicks) are no strangers to conservative backlash. In 2003, the Texas musicians became country music's most famous outcasts after they said they were "ashamed" to be from the same state as President George W. Bush.

"I saw how one comment ended such a powerful reign, and it terrified me," Taylor Swift told Variety in 2020. "These days, with social media, people can be so mad about something one day and then forget what they were mad about a couple weeks later. That's fake outrage. But what happened to the Dixie Chicks was real outrage. I registered it — that you're always one comment away from being done being able to make music."

The Chicks had gotten their first glimpse of exile three years prior, when they released their now-beloved single "Goodbye Earl."

The song, written by Dennis Linde and initially recorded by Sons of the Desert, tells the story of two women who plot to poison one of their abusive husbands. After The Chicks released their version, some critics worried the band was inadvertently advocating for premeditated murder.

However, in spite of initial resistance from country radio programmers, "Goodbye Earl" continued to climb the Billboard charts, eventually becoming a top-20 hit on the Hot 100 and reaching No. 13 on Hot Country Songs.

"It's one of the things where some of the gatekeepers take it more seriously than the audience does," Lon Helton, country music editor for Radio & Records, told the Tampa Bay Times in 2000.

"Programmers were nervous at first about offending parts of their audience, but I think they've gotten the message," Helton added. "The single is going up our (country airplay) charts as fast as any single the Chicks have put out."

Loretta Lynn's controversial single "The Pill" became a crossover hit without radio play.

Throughout the '70s, Loretta Lynn made a name as a feather-ruffler with her frank songwriting, which often tackled sexist stigmas and women's issues.

Many of Lynn's songs were shunned by country radio, including "Fist City" and "Rated X," but none were quite so well-known or provocative as "The Pill," a 1975 single about birth control and reproductive freedom.

The industry's rejection of "The Pill" is well-documented. According to the Daily Beast, it was "banned by radio stations spanning Atlanta to Detroit," which subsequently caused it to stall at No. 5 on Billboard's Hot Country Songs.

When Lynn died in October 2022, nearly five decades after the song's release, Time reported that country radio still hadn't come around: Luminate data showed the song had only been played once on country radio for that entire year.

Somehow, "The Pill" still managed to find an audience and resonate with listeners. It became the biggest crossover hit of Lynn's solo career, peaking at No. 70 on the Hot 100.

"I just write what I feel, what is going on with me and my life. It just happened that a lot of other women felt the same," Lynn told Parade in 2021. "I would never set out to write something just for it to shock someone; I am not that clever. It's always been about truth and if that means radio wants to ban it, well that's their problem. Most of my records they banned became No. 1 anyway."

• Katy Perry commented on a fan page's Instagram post to thank her "katycats" for their support.
• Perry alluded to recent backlash, saying "the 'online' world" has treated her like a "human piñata."
• "The internet is very much so a dumping ground for unhinged and unhealed," she wrote.

One week after launching her cross-continental Lifetimes Tour, Katy Perry thanked fans for their support — and reflected on the hypercritical response to her recent career moves.

On Tuesday, @katyperrybrasil, a fan page dedicated to the diamond-selling singer, shared footage of a billboard in Times Square that reads in part, "Congratulations on the opening week of the tour. We are so proud of you and your magical journey."

In the Instagram caption, the account's owners explained that Perry fan pages from all over the world had chipped in for 24 hours of prime billboard real estate to honor Perry and "remind her that she is never alone."

Mission accomplished: Perry saw the post and wrote a lengthy comment expressing gratitude for the bond she shares with her fans, aka "katycats."

"Please know I am ok, I have done a lot [of] work around knowing who I am, what is real and what is important to me," she wrote.

"When the 'online' world tries to make me a human piñata, I take it with grace and send them love," Perry continued, "'cause I know so many people are hurting in so many ways and the internet is very much so a dumping ground for unhinged and unhealed."

The fan-funded gesture arrives amid a rough patch for Perry's reputation. After reaching unprecedented pop heights in the 2010s — Perry's sophomore album "Teenage Dream" is the first and only by a woman to yield five No. 1 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 — Perry's new music has struggled to generate the same enthusiasm. Last year, her would-be comeback hit "Woman's World" was criticized online for shallow lyrics and problematic collaborators, while her newest album, "143," failed to reach the top five of the Billboard 200 chart.

More recently, Perry went to outer space as a member of Blue Origin's first all-female crew. The trip was marketed as a step forward for women in STEM, but a loud group of detractors — from fellow celebrities like Olivia Munn and Emily Ratajkowski to the fast-food chain Wendy's — saw it instead as wasteful "girlboss gibberish."

Perry also cross-promoted her forthcoming tour during her stint in space, which led to more criticism when her elaborate arena show landed in Mexico City last Wednesday. Over the past week, clips of Perry performing have made the rounds online, often paired with harsh commentary.

In her Instagram comment, Perry said she is focused on the actual crowds at her concerts, not online snark.

"What's real is seeing your faces every night, singing in unison, reading your notes, feeling your warmth," she wrote. "I find people to lock eyes and sing with and I know we are healing each other in a small way when I get to do that."

"I'm not perfect, and I actually have omitted that word from my vocabulary," she continued. "I'm on a human journey playing the game of life with an audience of many and sometimes I fall but… I get back up and go on and continue to play the game and somehow through my battered and bruised adventure I keep looking to the light."

• Beyoncé kicked off the "Cowboy Carter" tour on Monday in Inglewood, California.
• The set list included a variety of hits and fan-favorite tracks from her country-inspired album.
• Every song she performed for opening night is listed below, excluding video intros and interludes.

Beyoncé took the stage on Monday at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, to kick off her much-anticipated Cowboy Carter Tour.

Beyoncé previously hit the road in 2023 for the Renaissance World Tour, which was also adapted into a blockbuster concert movie.

The superstar's eighth solo album, "Cowboy Carter," was unveiled last year as the follow-up to "Renaissance" and the second installment in an ongoing trilogy that broadly examines genre, heritage, and legacy. It won over critics with its bold take on Nashville traditions and went on to win album of the year at the 2025 Grammy Awards in February, becoming Beyoncé's first win in the category.

Beyoncé previously debuted live renditions of select "Cowboy Carter" tracks, including "16 Carriages," "Ya Ya," and "Texas Hold 'Em," during a livestreamed NFL halftime show on Christmas Day. However, other fan-favorite tracks like "Bodyguard" and "II Most Wanted" — in addition to hits and deep cuts from across her discography — will finally get their time to shine during Beyoncé's 32-show trek across the US.

The tour's opening night set list is cataloged below, in chronological order of performance.

'Ameriican Requiem'

"Ameriican Requiem" is the opening track on "Cowboy Carter."

The lyrics allude to Beyoncé's duet with The Chicks at the 2016 CMA Awards, which sparked backlash among conservative country fans ("It's a lot of talkin' goin' on / While I sing my song / Can you hear me? / I said, 'Do you hear me?'").

Upon the album's release, Beyoncé told fans that "Cowboy Carter" was inspired by a time when she "did not feel welcomed" by the country music establishment.

'Blackbiird'

Beyoncé's cover of The Beatles' "Blackbird" highlights the important role of Black women in Nashville, recruiting four of the genre's rising stars to provide harmonies and backing vocals: Tanner Adell, Brittney Spencer, Tiera Kennedy, and Reyna Roberts.

'The Star-Spangled Banner'

Beyoncé's performance of the United States national anthem underscores a key "Cowboy Carter" theme — that country music, much like the actual country where it was created, has always been indebted to the labor of Black people.

"Cowboy Carter" has often been cast as a "reclamation a genre that's been divorced from its original creators," in the words of Kofi Mframa for USA Today. At the tour's opening show, Beyoncé's merch stand sold T-shirts that read, "Never ask for permission for something that already belongs to you."

'Freedom'

"Freedom" is the 10th track on Beyoncé's celebrated 2016 album, "Lemonade." The studio version features Kendrick Lamar.

'Ya Ya' and 'Why Don't You Love Me'

Beyoncé performed a mashup of the standout "Cowboy Carter" track "Ya Ya" with a deep cut from her third solo album, "I Am... Sasha Fierce."

'America Has a Problem'

"America Has a Problem" is the 14th track on "Renaissance." It was later released as a single, alongside a remix featuring Lamar.

'Spaghettii'

"Spaghettii" is the 12th track on "Cowboy Carter." The studio version features Linda Martell, a pioneering country singer from the early '70s, and Shaboozey, a genre-bending country star whose 2024 hit "A Bar Song (Tipsy)" broke the record among solo songs for most weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.

'Formation'

"Formation" was released as the lead single from "Lemonade." Beyoncé gave her debut performance of the song during a surprise appearance at the 2016 Super Bowl halftime show.

'My House'

"My House" was released as a standalone track in 2023, sandwiched between "Renaissance" and "Cowboy Carter."

'Diva'

In a scene from "Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé," the superstar contemplates cutting "Diva" from the set list. Her eldest daughter, Blue Ivy Carter, protests. "You can't do that!" she tells her mother.

"I appreciate your opinion, but you've gotta calm down," Beyoncé replies.

Lo and behold, "Diva" remained in the "Renaissance" tour set list — and stuck around for "Cowboy Carter," too.

'Alliigator Tears'

"Alliigator Tears" is the 13th track on "Cowboy Carter."

'Just for Fun'

"Just for Fun," a duet with Willie Jones, is the 15th track on "Cowboy Carter."

'Protector'

For the live debut of "Protector," Beyoncé was joined onstage by her two daughters, Blue Ivy and Rumi Carter.

'Flamenco'

"Flamenco" is the 18th track on "Cowboy Carter."

'Desert Eagle'

"Desert Eagle" is the 22nd track on "Cowboy Carter."

'Riiverdance'

"Riiverdance" is the 23rd track on "Cowboy Carter." It was cowritten by Beyoncé and Rachel Keen, aka Raye, who was recently nominated for best new artist at the Grammys.

'II Hands II Heaven'

"II Hands II Heaven" is the 24th track on "Cowboy Carter."

'Sweet Honey Buckiin,' 'Pure/Honey,' and 'Summer Renaissance'

Beyoncé performed a mashup of a high-energy "Cowboy Carter" standout with two fan-favorite tracks from "Renaissance."

'Jolene'

Beyoncé's "Jolene" is a reimagined version of Dolly Parton's classic country tune.

'Daddy Lessons'

"Daddy Lessons," the sixth track on "Lemonade," marked Beyoncé first official foray into country music. The song is both a celebration and a critique of her family legacy, particularly her father, who hails from Gadsden, Alabama.

'Bodyguard'

"Bodyguard" is the eighth track on "Cowboy Carter." Beyoncé released a visualizer for the song last November, inspired by Pamela Anderson's role in "Baywatch."

'II Most Wanted'

"II Most Wanted" is the 16th track on "Cowboy Carter." The studio version is a duet with Miley Cyrus, a lifelong Beyoncé fan.

The song was also coproduced by Ryan Tedder, who previously worked with Beyoncé on ballads like "Halo" and "XO."

'Cuff It'

"Cuff It" is the fourth track on "Renaissance."

'Tyrant'

"Tyrant" is the 25th track on "Cowboy Carter."

'Thique'

"Thique" is the 12th track on "Renaissance."

'Levii's Jeans'

"Levii's Jeans," a duet with Post Malone, is the 17th track on "Cowboy Carter."

'Daughter'

"Daughter" is the 11th track on "Cowboy Carter."

'I'm That Girl'

"I'm That Girl" is the opening track on "Renaissance."

'Cozy'

"Cozy" is the second track on "Renaissance."

'Alien Superstar'

"Alien Superstar" is the third track on "Renaissance."

'Texas Hold 'Em'

"Texas Hold 'Em" was surprise-released as the lead single from "Cowboy Carter" during the 2024 Super Bowl. It debuted at No. 1 on Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart, making Beyoncé the first Black woman in history to hold the top position.

"Texas Hold 'Em" also reached No. 1 on the Hot 100, where it remained for two weeks.

'Crazy in Love'

Beyoncé released "Crazy in Love" featuring her future husband, Jay-Z, as her debut solo single in 2003 — three years before Destiny's Child officially disbanded.

'Heated'

"Heated" is the 11th track on "Renaissance."

'Before I Let Go'

Beyoncé previously covered "Before I Let Go," the 1981 single by R&B band Maze, during her headlining performance at Coachella in 2018.

'16 Carriages'

"16 Carriages" was released alongside "Texas Hold 'Em" as the lead single's B-side.

'Amen'

"Amen" is the closing track on "Cowboy Carter."

• Lana Del Rey has regularly faced backlash since early 2020.
• It all started when Del Rey posted an unprompted public statement defending her own reputation.
• After repeatedly doubling down, she's since been described as "the epitome of white woman feminism."

At the dawn of a new decade, Lana Del Rey seemed poised at the summit of the indie-pop mountain.

The songstress, now 39, was still riding the high of "Norman Fucking Rockwell!" — her career-topping sixth album, which was crowned as Pitchfork's best of 2019 and nominated for album of the year at the Grammy Awards.

As 2019 neared its close, Del Rey's first two albums, "Born to Die" and "Ultraviolence," both landed on several decade-end lists. She was named one of the decade's defining artists by Business Insider.

But shortly after, Del Rey's behavior began to make more headlines than her music.

Her reputation suffered a rapid downturn, thanks to a string of controversial public statements, questionable accessories, and a strong tendency to double down.

Many fans even said they'd "lost respect" for the singer, and she became increasingly described online as a "problematic white woman." More recently, Del Rey has faced backlash for leaning into what listeners have described as a "conservative Southerner vibe" with her music, aesthetics, and inner circle.

Keep reading for a timeline of her biggest scandals and inflammatory comments.

Note: This article has been updated since its original publish date.

May 2020: Del Rey posted an unprompted public statement about her own reputation

It all began on May 21, four months after the 2020 Grammys, when Del Rey shared a lengthy open letter on Instagram. 

Posed as a "question for the culture," Del Rey praised her own legacy and broadly described her critics as "pathetic."

"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, fucking, cheating etc," she wrote, "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?"

"I'm fed up with female writers and alt singers saying that I glamorize abuse," she continued, "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."

She defended writing songs about being "submissive" in relationships, despite what she described as "a long 10 years of bullshit reviews."

"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," she wrote, "unlike my experience where if I even expressed a note of sadness in my first two records I was deemed literally hysterical as though it was literally the 1920s."

Del Rey concluded her statement by plugging her forthcoming poetry books, mentioning that she donates to "Native American foundations," and announcing a new album.

It remains unclear what triggered Del Rey's statement, or why she felt compelled to defend her music after months of glowing reviews.

Early in her career, Del Rey was seen as a controversial figure, but largely due to accusations of inauthenticity and artifice — especially because she orchestrated an aesthetic pivot after releasing a "flop" album under her birth name, Lizzy Grant.

Del Rey's tragic-glam persona that she introduced in the "Born To Die" era, which leaned heavily on images of white Americana, received far more scrutiny than her lyrics. She was also criticized in 2014 for telling Fader, "Feminism is just not an interesting concept."

Del Rey may have been reacting to a 2019 article from The Independent, in which writer Helen Brown "examines how easy it is to misread her lyrics as 'antifeminist'" — although Brown actually defends Del Rey's "sharp" songwriting and roundly praises her newest album.

Whatever Del Rey's motivations may have been, her 2020 statement was poorly received.

While some agreed she's been unfairly judged as "antifeminist" in the past, many were angry that she name-dropped other artists to make her point.

Additionally, six out of the seven people she mentioned were women of color, which sparked accusations of racism.

As Tulane University's Christine Capetola wrote, in addition to her reductive descriptions of their music, Del Rey "failed to recognize Black female artists' decades-long — and ongoing — struggle to express their sexualities on their own terms within the realm of pop music." 

Del Rey also implied that she's more "delicate" than her peers, and claimed that feminism is intolerant of "women who look and act like me."

"The optics of Lana, a white woman, complaining about feminism lacking space for her while critiquing the acclaim allotted to several Black pop artists is mortifying," Ashley Reese wrote for Jezebel.

YouTuber D'Angelo Wallace said Del Rey's album announcement was amplified by media coverage of the controversy. 

"Was Lana Del Rey profiting off Black outrage to sell her album? Yes," he said in a video titled, "Lana Del Rey has Lana Del LOST IT."

"I don't think she did it on purpose," he said. "But once she realized who she was making mad, and that it was getting her even more attention than she initially was looking for, she made four follow-up comments. And they were all about the outrage."

He added: "I'm just gonna be honest. This is where my respect for her started to dip."

Shortly after, Del Rey doubled down and insisted she's not racist

Del Rey's response to the backlash focused on her reasoning for naming specific artists.

"To be clear because I knowwww you love to twist things. I fucking love these singers and know them. #that is why I mentioned them," she wrote. "I would like to have some of the same freedom of expression without judgment of hysteria."

"I haven't had the same opportunity to express what I wanted to express without being completely decimated," she continued in a second comment. "And if you want to say that has something to do with race that's your opinion but that's not what I was saying."

"This is the problem with society today," she said in a third comment. "It's exactly the point of my post — there are certain women that culture doesn't want to have a voice it may not have to do with race I don't know what it has to do with."

"I don't care anymore but don't ever ever ever ever bro- call me racist because that is bullshit."

"And my last and final note on everything," Del Rey wrote in a fourth comment, "when I said people who look like me — I meant the people who don't look strong or necessarily smart, or like they're in control etc. it's about advocating for a more delicate personality, not for white women — thanks for the Karen comments tho. V helpful."

However, Del Rey's comments struck many people as overly defensive, tone-deaf, and unproductive, rather than illuminating. 

"'Don't ever call me racist' is hands-down the single-most disappointing reaction to accusations of racism," Wallace said in his video. 

Black writers like Nichole Perkins and Roxane Gay also pointed out Del Rey's use of "coded" language and self-victimization.

Del Rey posted an additional statement on Instagram, accusing her critics of wanting a 'race war'

One day after her original post, Del Rey continued to insist that it "wasn't controversial at all," despite national news coverage and widespread backlash.

In her additional statement, she implied that Ariana Grande and Doja Cat reached out to express discomfort with her message.

But "despite the feedback," Del Rey doubled down once again.

"I want to say that I remain firm in my clarity and stance in that what i was writing about was the importance of self-advocacy for the more delicate and often dismissed, softer female personality, and that there does have to be room for that type in what will inevitably become a new wave/3rd wave of feminism that is rapidly approaching," she wrote, even though the third wave of feminism began more than 20 years ago.

"I'm sorry that the folks who I can only assume are super Trump/Pence supporters or hyper liberals or flip-flopping headline grabbing critics can't read and want to make it a race war," she continued.

She also accused her female critics of being "disassociated from their own fragility and sexuality" and wanting "drama."

"My aim and my message are clear. That I have control of my own story," she concluded. "If the women I mention don't wanna be associated with me that's absolutely fine by me."

Again, fans criticized Del Rey for dismissing feedback rather than engaging with it.

Many noted that Del Rey's repeated self-characterization as a "delicate" woman plays into racist stereotypes, which historically paint white women as more feminine or fragile — allowing them to escape accountability more easily.

It also highlights the idea that Del Rey is "playing the victim."

"Lana really wants to act like she's the most original artist playing the victim and honestly she's full of shit," one person wrote on X (then known as Twitter). 

She was also mocked for not-so-casually plugging her poetry book in the midst of her non-apology.

Del Rey made a further attempt to defend her open letter 3 days later — and compared herself to another woman of color

"In that post — my one and only personal declaration I've ever made, thanks for being so warm and welcoming — was about the need for fragility in the feminist movement," Del Rey said on May 25 in a six-minute video on Instagram.

"When I mentioned women who 'look like me,' I didn't mean white like me, I mean the kind of women who, you know, other people might not believe," Del Rey said in the video. "The difference is, when I get on the pole, people call me a whore, but when twigs gets on the pole, it's art."

She added: "The culture is super sick right now. And the fact that they wanna turn my post, my advocacy for fragility, into a race war — it's really bad. It's actually really bad."

She also expressed frustration that her letter received backlash, though she didn't address any of the specific criticism she received from artists and fans of color.

"It really, again, makes you reach into the depth of your own heart and say, 'Am I good-intentioned?' And of course, for me, the answer is always yes," she said. "I barely ever share a thing, and this is why."

Del Rey wrapped up by insisting that she's "not racist," plugging her poetry books, and refusing to apologize for her original statement: "Fuck off if you don't like the post."

Once again, Del Rey was perceived as being resentful towards successful women of color, ignorant of her own privilege, and determined to play the victim.

People were especially infuriated by Del Rey's mention of FKA twigs, a mixed-race singer, songwriter, and dancer.

Twigs has trained as a pole dancer and incorporated acrobatics into her art, as in her Grammy-nominated music video for "Cellophane." She has also incorporated the skill into live performances of "Magdalene," an album that explores the demonization of women throughout history and her own experiences with heartbreak and trauma.

Twigs also said that pole dancing helped her feel like her "strong self again" after she had six fibroid tumors removed from her uterus in 2018.

For her part, Del Rey portrayed a stripper in her 2013 short film for "Tropico," which was criticized for "appropriating Latino gangster culture."

"The fact that she said race war and doesn't see twigs as a fragile, delicate woman is... You're really making it worse," one person wrote. 

Another added: "You can hear FKA twigs' pain on 'Magdalene' period. I need Lana to stop bringing black women into her argument for creating a brand she cannot escape from."

Most fans (and former fans at this point) agreed that Del Rey's video "only made things worse."

"I didn't think she was this kind of person," Wallace said in his video. "Now I have the knowledge that Lana Del Rey is kind of ruthless in her pursuit of getting people to talk about her, and she doesn't seem to care who gets angry in the process, or even if what she's saying is right. So, that's a lot."

June 2020: She was called out by Black artists for sharing videos of protesters

During the wave of Black Lives Matter protests sparked by the death of George Floyd, Del Rey shared two videos on Instagram.

According to Billboard, the first video showed a man holding a sign that read "no justice no peace," while the second showed people breaking into storefronts and running away with merchandise. She disabled comments on the post.

On X, Kehlani implored Del Rey to remove the videos because they showed uncensored faces and identifying features, which could lead to "dangerous" consequences for the protesters.

".@LanaDelRey please remove your instagram post it's dangerous as fuck and a very poor choice of moments to post," Kehlani tweeted. "by all means protest, but DO NOT endanger people with your very massive platform. oh and turn your fuckin comments on man."

Kehlani added: "it's about furthering endangering the lives of black people. it's about responsibility."

Tinashe echoed Kehlani's comments in a tweet of her own.

"@LanaDelRey why the fuck are you posting people looting stores on your page literally WHAT IS YOUR PROBLEM," she wrote.

After Del Rey removed the video from Instagram, Kehlani and Tinashe both deleted their tweets.

October 2020: Del Rey came under fire after apparently wearing a mesh face mask

Aside from postponing her album, which was originally slated for release in September 2020, Del Rey remained fairly quiet in the wake of her divisive video — except to promote her aforementioned poetry book, "Violet Bent Backwards Over the Grass."

In October, Del Rey hosted a book signing at a Barnes & Noble in Los Angeles during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In videos and photos from the event, she appeared to wear a mesh-style face mask, which, according to the CDC's recommendations, would not effectively barrier respiratory droplets.

Fans left comments on her Instagram posts, which she has since deleted, begging her to wear a "real mask."

"I love you sis but please wear a real mask, it gives a bad message," one user commented on Del Rey's Instagram video.

"i love lana sm but what the frick is she doing ? the covid situation in the united states is worsening and she refuses to wear a proper mask, that really infuriates me," another fan wrote on X. "so many ppl have died there."

Others called Del Rey "selfish" and said they were growing tired of defending her.

The image of COVID-19 slipping through the holes in her mask also became a meme on social media.

Del Rey later said that her mask had a plastic lining, in response to a critical article in the Michigan Daily.

"The mask had plastic on the inside," Del Rey wrote. "They're commonly sewn in by stylists these days. I don't generally respond to articles because I don't care. But there ya go. Same goes for everyone's masks in my video. I'm lucky enough to have a team of people who can do that."

She also seemed to poke fun at the controversy in her music video for "Chemtrails Over the Country Club," in which she dons a nearly identical mask.

January 10, 2021: Del Rey unveiled the cover art for her new album — and preemptively defended it with a 'problematic' comment

The black-and-white cover for "Chemtrails Over the Country Club" shows Del Rey grinning and surrounded by friends, all huddled around a table.

Shortly after she shared the image, Del Rey commented on her own Instagram post with preemptive self-defense.

"No this was not intended — these are my best friends, since you are asking today," she wrote, although it's unclear who was asking. (This was written as a stand-alone comment, not a reply to anyone in particular.)

"As it happens when it comes to my amazing friends and this cover, yes, there are people of color on this record's picture and that's all I'll say about that," she wrote. "We are all a beautiful mix of everything - some more than others, which is visible and celebrated in everything I do."

"In 11 years working I have always been extremely inclusive without trying to," she continued. "My best friends are rappers, my boyfriends have been rappers. My dearest friends have been from all over the place, so before you make comments again about a WOC/POC issue, I'm not the one storming the capital, I'm literally changing the world by putting my life and thoughts and love out there on the table 24 seven. Respect it."

The following day, during an interview with BBC's Annie Mac, Del Rey said that "actually half the people in this photo are people of color."

"I just feel like if that's really what people are gonna say, I have an answer for them, which is that if you look closer, you will see people of color," she added. "It's a black-and-white image, so zoom in, you know. It's just weird, you know?"

Naturally, some people did make jokes about the cover's perceived lack of diversity, while others called the image "tone deaf."

But the real backlash came in response to Del Rey's comment, which was described as "textbook white fragility problematic white woman."

Del Rey's note about befriending and dating "rappers" was particularly provocative, since it implies that "rappers" is an ethnic category and reinforces the notion that Black friends can inoculate white people against racism.

Del Rey was also mocked for claiming that she's "literally changing the world" with her writing.

"We love her and understand her intentions but we cannot keep defending this shit," one fan commented on Del Rey's Instagram post. "That comment is so problematic in so many ways."

"I literally have her lyrics tattooed on my body but I'm also a political activist and I cannot defend this shit at all. I wish we could be excited about the album and only that but shit like this makes it hard to be," the fan continued. "Nothing about her statement is okay."

"If she's going to breathe life into [the] aesthetics of a time where racism was at one of its peaks, and not use her platform in the same breath to advocate today's issues properly, accurately, and tactfully. That's an issue."

January 11, 2021: Del Rey was criticized for saying Trump 'doesn't know that he's inciting a riot'

During an interview with BBC's Annie Mac, Del Rey compared President Donald Trump to "people who didn't know they hurt other people."

"You know, he doesn't know that he's inciting a riot, and I believe that," she said, adding that Trump has "delusions of grandeur."

Del Rey was referring to the violent riot at the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, when pro-Trump supporters stormed the building after attending a nearby Trump rally.

Five people died, and the outgoing president was impeached for "incitement of insurrection."

"The madness of Trump… As bad as it was, it really needed to happen. We really needed a reflection of our world's greatest problem, which is not climate change but sociopathy and narcissism," she said, per Complex. "Especially in America. It's going to kill the world. It's not capitalism, it's narcissism."

One person replied on X: "Lana stans gonna be doing some mental gymnastics to explain this one."

Del Rey then lashed out at 'larger magazines' for 'taking my well-intentioned and believe it or not liberal comments out of context'

The day following her interview with Mac, Del Rey responded to Complex's coverage of her comments.

"OK complex not that our 10 year relationship matters I guess," she wrote in a since-deleted post on Twitter, now X. "Thanks for the cool soundbite taken out of context, I said that the bigger problem is Sociopathy-so whether he meant to incite a riot is less important than the larger issue in America at hand -the problem of sociopathy."

"It's fucked up," she continued. "You know I'm real. You know I voted for Biden. I'm super steady in everything I've ever said. You probably listened to my entire interview. So whoever wrote this is a genuine piece of shit. I am the one helping bringing the problem with narcissism to light."

Hardly one to stifle momentum, Del Rey also responded to the Australian blog Tone Deaf, which had published an article criticizing the defense of her album cover.

"I'm actually not tone deaf, I don't think there's anything tone deaf about responding to questions about why there are only white women on a album cover when that's just not the case," she tweeted. "I'm not gonna let people say that some thing is what it isn't. You're jealous I get it."

In an additional (now-deleted) tweet, Del Rey added that her new music is "great" and described herself as "one of the only artists who is genuine."

Del Rey continued tweeting about her BBC interview, clarifying that she meant to criticize Trump's "significant lack of empathy" and "the issue of sociopathy and narcissism in America."

"I'll say it again I don't appreciate the larger magazines taking my well-intentioned and believe it or not liberal comments out of context," she wrote. "It's actually what I sing about quite often. It's what I've been condemned for saying."

She also expressed disdain for negative publicity, citing her "long term relationship" with magazines like Complex and Rolling Stone, calling the former "pathetic."

Uproxx's Steven Hyden described the now-deleted tweet as "a hilarious and illuminating snapshot of pop-star brain."

Indeed, Del Rey has lashed out at journalists and music critics in the past.

Back in September 2019, she tweeted her displeasure with Ann Powers' review of "Norman Fucking Rockwell!" for NPR — even though Powers described the album as "instantly compelling, a pro asserting her future spot in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame."

True to form, Del Rey doubled down with a video, in which she defended her comments about Trump and called out Complex again.

"I just wanna talk about a couple of things, some of the articles that are coming out today, about me thinking that Trump didn't mean to incite the riots," she began. "I think it's cute that that's the little takeaway that Complex gets from that — especially with our relationship over the last 10 years, obviously completely disregarded."

"I get it. I have something to say, and I don't just show up giggling and talking about my hair and my makeup," she continued. "I was asked directly political questions for over 40 minutes by the BBC Radio 1, and I answered them."

Many people saw Del Rey's tweets as another attempt to play the victim or another example of "white feminism." The term is used to describe performative activism that centers white people in the fight for equality, as opposed to intersectionality.

"Lana is beyond parody," one person wrote. "People are saying she's the epitome of white woman feminism and she defends herself with more white woman feminism."

 Others simply made jokes or said they'd lost patience with Del Rey's antics.

September 12, 2021: Del Rey deactivated her social media accounts

In a black-and-white video posted on Instagram, the musician thanked fans for their support and announced her decision to delete social media.

"I just wanted to let you know that tomorrow we are going to be deactivating my social media accounts, and that is simply because I have so many other interests and other jobs I'm doing that require privacy and transparency," Del Rey said.

"I'm still very present and love what I do. I'm absolutely here for the music. I'm also just going on some different endeavors and I want to say thank you so much for all the support and I do hope that you like the record," she added, referencing her eighth album "Blue Banisters," which was released later that same month.

Del Rey later became active again on Instagram, using the account handle @honeymoon, though her X account remains inactive.

March 24, 2023: She included a megachurch pastor's sermon on her new album, dividing fans

On Del Rey's ninth studio album, "Did You Know That There's a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd," track five is titled "Judah Smith Interlude."

The four-minute track gives an uninterrupted platform to Judah Smith, a preacher at the Christian megachurch Churchome. Smith, Del Rey, and producer Jack Antonoff are all listed as cowriters. 

Del Rey also thanked Smith in a Facebook post a few months prior, "for giving me good guidance" and "for letting me record a part of his sermon for this record."

In the song, Smith denounces "a life dominated with lust" and praises God as "the fascinating artist who fashioned it all."

"The Spirit of God says, 'I'll infuse you with desirеs for what you have and what's in front of you,'" Smith preaches.

As Them previously reported, many fans — especially those who identify as queer — were divided in their reactions to "Judah Smith Interlude." One X user called it "creepy," while another said, "it's giving conversion therapy cult leader." 

Indeed, Smith has reportedly made homophobic comments in the past. According to Marie Claire, he called homosexuality a sin comparable to "murder, rape, or living with your girlfriend" during a 2005 interview. (The interview in question isn't available online.)

Churchome is also associated with Hillsong, an Australian megachurch best known for attracting famous followers like Chris Pratt. In fact, Justin Bieber once led worship at Churchome, and Smith was featured on Bieber's 2021 EP "Freedom."

Hillsong has long been associated with anti-abortion and anti-LGBTQ views. A report from NPR described it as "an ultra-conservative church with a dark past," including connections to pedophilia.

"I was uncomfortable. I'm not religious and thought it was weird to include. Considering who he is, it's very weird," one person wrote on Reddit. Another agreed, reasoning that Del Rey could have invented "a weird fake religious monologue" instead of "publicizing a real pastor that sucks."

However, some fans of Del Rey have defended "Judah Smith Interlude" as satirical or "ironic." As Coleman Spilde wrote for the Daily Beast, "Del Rey is exactly the type of person who would attend a celebrity-studded mega-church, both for a cleansing of the soul and to lambaste its intrinsic flamboyance with her friends."

"As a gay atheist that grew up in the Catholic Church, y'all are really bent out of shape over this," another fan commented in a Reddit thread. "I love how provocative this whole thing is and it's exactly why I love Lana."

June 24, 2023: Del Rey arrived 30 minutes late to the stage at Glastonbury, telling the crowd, 'My hair takes so long to do'

Del Rey is far from the only artist who's been late to headline a major festival. However, some people were frustrated with the explanation she gave for the delay.

"I was so fucking late that I am about to rush this set today," she told the crowd. "If they cut power, they cut power. I'm super fucking sorry. My hair takes so long to do. I love you to death. Let's keep on running the set as it's supposed to go."

As a result, Del Rey's microphone was cut off due to the festival's strict midnight curfew — although she encouraged the crowd to sing her final song, "Video Games," instead.

Despite some outrage directed at Glastonbury, many fans blamed Del Rey and said she lacked respect for the fans who came to see her perform.

Others described her performance as "chaotic" and "disappointing."

September 26, 2024: Del Rey married Jeremy Dufrene, an alligator tour guide based in Louisiana

About one month after Del Rey and Dufrene sparked romance rumors, paparazzi photos surfaced of the singer wearing a white gown at a public bayou in Des Allemandes, Louisiana.

People quickly confirmed that Del Rey and Dufrene tied the knot in the same place where Dufrene operates his swamp boat tours.

"Jeremy is the one and only. And amazing. And we're very happy," Del Rey later wrote on Instagram.

Fans were shocked and confused by the news of Del Rey's nuptials. For many, her marriage to Dufrene confirmed their suspicions that she has embraced a conservative lifestyle; unverified screenshots from Dufrene's public Facebook that appear to show support for Trump throughout the 2024 election. (Dufrene's social media accounts have since been set to private.)

Nearly three months after her wedding, Del Rey praised her husband as an "honest partner who has no skin in the game" during a speech at the Variety Hitmakers ceremony.

"It's super nerve-racking to have to hold onto an innocent perception of how things could go when you're in an industry where maybe your values or your morals don't quite match up with what's going on — especially when people think that you probably don't have any morals or values," she said, per Billboard.

Resharing a clip of her speech on X, Meghan McCain wrote: "Lana is code talking about being a conservative woman here. I know what I speak of."

April 25, 2025: Del Rey sang about kissing Morgan Wallen during her Stagecoach debut

Del Rey debuted several unreleased songs during her first-ever performance at Stagecoach, California's biggest country music festival.

One song, titled "57.5," includes an intimate lyric about the country musician Morgan Wallen, whose rise to fame has been marked by a string of arrests and scandals.

"I kissed Morgan Wallen / I guess kissing me kind of went to his head," Del Rey sang. "If you want my secret to success / I suggest don't go ATVing with him when you're out West."

Before delivering the lyric, Del Rey warned the crowd, "This is the last time I'm ever gonna say this line."

Del Rey's name-dropping of Wallen inspired a flurry of mixed reactions. Although the song depicts their encounter in a negative light, which many fans relished as juicy gossip, Del Rey seemed to know that willingly associating herself with Wallen — who's best known in liberal circles for flouting COVID-19 protocols and using a racial slur on camera — would invite attention, speculation, and possibly even backlash.

"Every couple months Lana has to remind y'all she's a conservative," one detractor wrote on X. Other posts referred to her as a "secret Republican" and "MAGA Del Rey." Over on Reddit, self-proclaimed former fans lamented the progression of her songwriting ("This can't be the same woman that wrote 'Cruel World'") and her recently countrified aesthetic ("This whole trad wife southern cosplay isn't really for me").

Reactions were similarly mixed on TikTok, where some people described the revelation as "iconic" and others as problematic. One video criticizing Wallen, Del Rey, her husband, and her fans has amassed over 64,000 likes.

"Y'all are about to call me 'the friend that's too woke' and I don't really give a shit, 'cause Lana Del Rey getting on that main stage and saying she kissed Morgan Wallen actually is that bad," the creator said.

Representatives for Del Rey have not responded to requests for comment from Business Insider.

• Beyoncé has released eight solo studio albums, starting with "Dangerously In Love" in 2003.
• According to aggregated reviews on Metacritic, "I Am...Sasha Fierce" is Beyoncé's worst album.
• "Lemonade" holds the No. 1 spot, followed by "Cowboy Carter" and "Renaissance."

Beyoncé's eighth solo album, "Cowboy Carter," earned near-unanimous praise from critics and won album of the year at the 2025 Grammy Awards.

One year after its release, "Cowboy Carter" remains one of the most acclaimed and impactful works of Beyoncé's career — but how do the reviews compare to the rest of her catalog?

All eight of Beyoncé's solo studio albums are ranked below, according to aggregate scores from Metacritic.

7. "I Am...Sasha Fierce"

Metacritic score: 62/100

What critics said: "The album's songs are divided into two parts, ballads of a purported personal nature on the first disc and more aggressive club tracks attributed to the singer's newly christened doppelganger on the second.

"It's a momentum-murdering formula that makes for not only a disjointed listening experience but, with the slow songs presented first, an incoherent narrative. This problem would be negligible, particularly in the age of iTunes, if it weren't clear that Beyoncé intended to make an Album and wants it to be consumed as such." — Sal Cinquemani, Slant Magazine

6. "Dangerously In Love"

Metacritic score: 63/100

What critics said: "Whether or not she got the credit, the slick-tongue style she perfected on 'Say My Name' was a mini-revolution in R&B. And 'Dangerously in Love,' her solo debut, confirms her taste for innovation. 'Dangerously,' which the singer coproduced and almost entirely cowrote, is more about moving on from Destiny's Child's frothy aesthetic than competing with the current crop of singing sensations." — Neil Drumming, Entertainment Weekly

5. "B'Day"

Metacritic score: 70/100

What critics said: "Beyoncé sounds more relaxed as a singer, expanding on the Tina Turner resemblances she's been toying with recently, her performances growing ever-more instinctive and unpredictable in their appropriations of soul hollering." — Tim Finney, Pitchfork

4. "4"

Metacritic score: 73/100

What critics said: "As modern as Beyoncé has allowed herself to be over the years, from tech-savvy club R&B with Destiny's Child to the insistent pancultural stomp of 'Run the World (Girls),' on this new album, she has always been a torch singer in waiting, anticipating the day when she could just get down to business." — Jon Caramanica, The New York Times

3. "Beyoncé"

Metacritic score: 85/100

What critics said: "'Beyoncé,' her fifth solo album, repositions the singer as the Houston-bred Yoncé, a woman lustier and surlier than B, more playful than Bey, fiercer than Sasha but softer and more natural than the lot. The album is brassy but elegant, its post-coital breath smelling faintly of cheap liquor sipped from a crystal flute. It finds Beyoncé shifting gears to pull off her most explicit and sonically experimental music to date, exploring sounds and ideas at the grittier margins of popular music." — Carrie Battan, Pitchfork

2 (tie). "Renaissance"

Metacritic score: 91/100

What critics said: "What a good time this thing is. All 16 songs hail from someplace with a dance floor — night clubs, strip clubs, ballrooms, basements, Tatooine. Most of them are steeped in or conducted entirely with Black queer bravado. And on nearly every one, Beyoncé sounds like she's experiencing something personally new and privately glorious: unmitigated ecstasy. It takes different forms: bliss, obviously; but a sexy sternness, too. The exercise of control is as entertaining on this album as the exorcism of stress." — Wesley Morris, The New York Times

2 (tie). "Cowboy Carter"

Metacritic score: 91/100

What critics said: "Like everything Beyoncé has done, specifically in the last decade of her career, 'Cowboy Carter' is a college dissertation of an album: richly researched and meticulously constructed. And while she has something to prove to a whole musical community, it's more of a love letter to her Southern roots than strictly a honky-tonkin' romp." — Brittany Spanos, Rolling Stone

"Following the footsteps of 'Renaissance,' the best album of 2022, 'Cowboy Carter' is part of an ongoing trilogy that probes the limits of genre — and, crucially, the roles that race and gender play in imposing those limits. Beyoncé is the perfect and perhaps only musician alive who could stage such an experiment with this level of mastery, foresight, and cultural impact." — Callie Ahlgrim, Business Insider

1. "Lemonade"

Metacritic score: 92/100

What critics said: "It is the perfect combination of the sharp songwriting of '4' with the visual storytelling acumen of her self-titled record. Here, we see Beyoncé fully coming into her own: wise, accomplished, and in defense of herself. Many artists struggle with finding the right balance, but then Beyoncé is not like many artists. Rather than mold to the conformity of contemporary music, she leans firmly into her own instincts and vision." — Britt Julious, Consequence

• Lorde released her new single "What Was That?" on Thursday.
• She said the song was written in late 2023 in the midst of a painful breakup.
• The lyrics also include references to drug use and other songs in Lorde's discography.

On the heels of her impromptu pop-up in Washington Square Park on Tuesday, which drew a crowd so large it was shut down by the NYPD, Lorde officially launched her new era of music on Thursday with the brand-new single, "What Was That?"

The synth-pop song arrives nearly four years after Lorde's third album, "Solar Power," divided fans and critics with its bright acoustics and serene lyricism.

By contrast, "What Was That?" is fraught and jittery, like jolting awake from a dream. Cowritten by Lorde and Jim-E Stack and coproduced by the duo with Daniel Nigro — who made his name as a pop-star whisperer through his work with Olivia Rodrigo and Chappell Roan — the song was evidently inspired by fresh heartbreak.

"Late 2023. Back in New York. Deep breakup," Lorde wrote on her website to accompany its release. "Stopping birth control. Every meal a battle. Flashbacks and waves. Feeling grief's vortex and letting it take me. Opening my mouth and recording what fell out… The sound of my rebirth."

Since Lorde's breakthrough 2013 hit "Royals," which she wrote when she was still a teenager, the now-28-year-old New Zealander has generally been social media-averse and tight-lipped about her personal life — so much so that the fact that she'd even been in a long-term relationship may have come as a surprise to many fans.

On "What Was That?", Lorde's guileless, introspective style of songwriting offers an avenue to trace her recent milestones and emotional arcs.

The song is teeming with references to her past work, real-life places, and drug-fueled flashbacks. Here's a close reading of the lyrics.

'What Was That?' was likely inspired by Justin Warren, a music executive who Lorde was rumored to be dating

Rumors began swirling in 2016 that Lorde was dating Justin Warren, a promotions director at Universal Music who is roughly 17 years her senior.

Though Warren denied reports of a romance at the time, the pair were photographed kissing on the streets of Auckland in 2020 and displaying more PDA in 2021.

Also in 2021, Lorde released the "Solar Power" track "The Man With the Axe," which was widely interpreted as an open letter to Warren. She described the ballad as "fragile, vulnerable," and "very private."

"I'm expressing a huge amount of love and affection for someone," she told Apple Music of the song. "I sort of don't even like thinking about people listening to it because it's just for me."

On September 20, 2023, Lorde seemed to announce their breakup in an email to fans.

"I'm living with heartbreak again. It's different but the same. I ache all the time, I forget why and then remember," she wrote in her newsletter. "I'm not trying to hide from the pain, I understand now that pain isn't something to hide from, that there's actually great beauty in moving with it. But sometimes I'm sick of being with myself."

This timeline would suggest that "What Was That?" was born in the wake of this breakup.

Neither Lorde nor Warren ever publicly confirmed their relationship, but he's the only person she has been romantically linked to since she split from her first serious boyfriend, James Lowe, in early 2016. (Lowe apparently served as the inspiration for Lorde's 2017 sophomore album, "Melodrama.")

The chorus of 'What Was That?' features a reference to MDMA, drawing a connection to 'Melodrama'

"MDMA in the back garden, blow our pupils up," Lorde sings. "We kissed for hours straight, well, baby, what was that?"

MDMA is an abbreviation for the drug commonly known as ecstasy, which was popularized in the 2010s as a party stimulant.

Lorde previously revealed that she was using MDMA while making "Melodrama," and the emotion that's most central to the album is "ecstasy." (By comparison, she said she associates her debut album, "Pure Heroine," with alcohol and her third album, "Solar Power," with cannabis.)

There are lyrical callbacks to songs like 'Girl, So Confusing' and 'Perfect Places'

"I wear smoke like a wedding veil / Make a meal I won't eat," Lorde sings in the first verse of "What Was That?"

The first line is likely a reference to smoking cigarettes, which Lorde makes explicit in the song's chorus. ("I remember saying then, 'This is the best cigarette of my life.'") Cigarettes have historically been marketed as appetite suppressants, which may help explain the second line in the couplet.

Moreover, Lorde has previously written about struggling with her body image and disordered eating habits, most notably for last year's "Girl, So Confusing" remix.

"'Cause for the last couple years / I've been at war with my body," Lorde sings in her verse of the Charli XCX track. "I tried to starve myself thinner / And then I gained all the weight back."

In the 2023 email to fans that revealed her recent heartbreak, Lorde also wrote about experiencing inflammation across her body and concerns about her gut health. She also admitted to comparing herself to "beautiful people" who post photos of themselves online with "arched backs and wet flower mouths."

"Everyone looks very thin. Just thinking that makes me feel tired and far away," she wrote.

Heartbreak has been known to cause physical symptoms like nausea and loss of appetite, in addition to psychological effects like self-doubt and stress.

"What Was That?" also recalls the hedonistic atmosphere of "Melodrama," which Lorde once described as "a record about being alone. The good parts and the bad parts." In particular, the album's closing track, "Perfect Places," paints Lorde as a frenzied teenager who parties to cope with loneliness and existential angst. ("I hate the headlines and the weather / I'm 19 and I'm on fire / But when we're dancing, I'm alright / It's just another graceless night.")

Similarly, the second verse of "What Was That?" depicts the author as a woman possessed by grief, even when she's surrounded by a glamorous crowd.

"Do you know you're still with me / When I'm out with my friends? / I stare at the painted faces / That talk current affairs," Lorde sings.

She also name-drops Baby's All Right, a small music venue in Brooklyn: "When I'm in the blue light, down at Baby's All Right / I face reality." In the song's outro, that lyric is tweaked to resemble her "Melodrama" philosophy more closely: "When I'm in the blue light, I can make it alright."

"What Was That?" also mirrors "Perfect Places" in its explicit reference to a formative age. Where Lorde once sang, "I'm 19 and I'm on fire," she now reflects on her bygone youth, dazed and indignant: "Since l was 17, I gave you everything / Now, we wake from a dream, well, baby, what was that?"

Dream logic is a recurring theme in Lorde's discography

Throughout her songwriting career — but especially in her debut album — Lorde has used dreams or dreaming as lyrical shorthand to illustrate encounters and experiences that feel surreal, shallow, doomed to end, or just beyond her reach.

Examples of this motif include "Royals" ("We don't care, we're driving Cadillacs in our dreams"), "400 Lux" ("Dreams of clean teeth"), "Ribs" ("This dream isn't feeling sweet"), "Buzzcut Season" ("All the girls with heads inside a dream"), "Team" (Living in ruins of a palace within my dreams"), "White Teeth Teens" ("You'll get the picture of your dreams"), and "Sober" ("When you dream with a fever / Bet you wish you could touch our rush").

More recently, in the "Solar Power" track "California," Lorde begs to be roused from the reverie of Hollywood, which she depicts as a fairytale-like world with lots of flattery and little substance ("It all just a dream / I wanna wake up, I wanna wake up").

Now, "What Was That?" depicts Lorde as finally getting her wish — and being forced to face the consequences of living in a fantasy for so long, of bending to her self-described "dreamer's disposition."

• Ben Affleck shares three teenage kids with his ex-wife, Jennifer Garner.
• Affleck went viral when he refused to buy his 13-year-old son, Samuel, a $6,000 pair of sneakers.
• Affleck said his two eldest kids already have jobs, and his son is "reckoning with that reality."

Ben Affleck may earn eight-figure salaries for the movies he stars in, but he doesn't make a habit of sharing that wealth with his kids.

Affleck, who co-parents three teenagers — Violet Anne, 19, Seraphina Rose, 16, and Samuel, 13 — with his ex-wife, Jennifer Garner, recently went viral when he showed up at a sneaker convention with his son.

In a video from the event shared by the popular Instagram account Got Sole, Affleck refused to buy a $6,000 pair of Dior Air Jordan 1s that Samuel had his eye on. "That's a lot of lawns you gotta mow there," the actor quipped.

During a Tuesday appearance on NBC's morning show "Jenna & Friends," guest co-host Andy Cohen told Affleck he admired his just-say-no strategy.

"He was like, 'We have the money,'" Affleck recalled his son saying. "I was like, 'I have the money. You're broke.'"

"Listen, you love your kids," Affleck continued. "You want to give them everything and do everything for them. But I think you definitely do them a disservice by not connecting — you want something meaningful, that you want? You have to work for that."

Affleck confirmed that his two eldest kids have already entered the workforce. Seraphina recently landed a "classic teenager" job in a shop, while Violet is juggling college schoolwork with a part-time job and the search for a summer internship.

"My son is 13. He's reckoning with that reality right now as he's looking at no shoes in his closet, thinking about — well, he's got shoes, just no, like, crazy expensive fancy shoes," Affleck explained. "I'm like, 'Well, if you want that, you can work 1,000 hours.' You know what I mean? Minimum wage."

Before becoming an in-demand Hollywood star, Affleck was raised in a working-class family in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He spent his teenage years auditioning for after-school specials and acting in high-school theater productions with his longtime friend, Matt Damon.

Affleck and Damon famously split a $600,000 check for writing "Good Will Hunting," their breakthrough film, which won best original screenplay at the 1998 Oscars. Over the years, Affleck built up to earning eight-figure paydays with memorable roles in blockbuster films, including his turn as Batman in multiple DC Comics movies.

In 2020, Forbes estimated Affleck's net worth to be $55 million.

• "Mountainhead" is an HBO original film from "Succession" creator Jesse Armstrong.
• Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman, Cory Michael Smith, and Ramy Youssef star as tech billionaires.
• The first trailer teases tension between the four amid the backdrop of global unrest.

The first trailer for Jesse Armstrong's "Mountainhead" was unveiled on Tuesday, teasing another high-stakes satire of the superrich from the Emmy-winning creator of HBO's "Succession."

"Mountainhead," Armstrong's first release since "Succession" ended in 2023, will also mark his first feature film and directorial debut. It stars Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman, Cory Michael Smith, and Ramy Youssef as four friends who have all become tech-industry giants. Venis (Smith) is even described in the trailer as the "richest guy in the world."

When the quartet reunites for a wintry getaway, Jeff (Youssef) is quick to taunt Venis for creating a company that's "racist and shitty." Later, tension mounts as news of an international crisis unfolds on their phones and TV screens.

Once Jeff gets word that the US president would like to speak with the group, he tells Venis, "Your platform has inflamed a volatile situation — circulating unfalsifiable deepfakes, massive fraud, market instability."

Meanwhile, Randall (Carell) stands by stoically, and Souper (Schwartzman) attempts to defuse the situation with catering and poker.

Though Mark Zuckerberg currently trails Elon Musk for the title of world's wealthiest man, it's not a stretch to imagine that Venis' unnamed platform was inspired by Zuckerberg's Meta.

Meta has been accused of similar transgressions, including misappropriating user data, facilitating the spread of conspiracy theories and Russian propaganda during the 2016 election cycle, and, most recently, opening the door for more misinformation by removing third-party fact-checkers during a turbulent time for US markets. Zuckerberg has also made efforts to align himself with President Donald Trump during his second term in office.

Armstrong is known for drawing real-life parallels in his work, as with "Succession" patriarch Logan Roy, whose family dynamic and right-wing media empire closely resembles that of Rupert Murdoch. The show's final season also introduced another influential billionaire, Lukas Matsson, who struck viewers as a Musk-esque tech bro crossed with Spotify CEO Daniel Ek.

Aside from the trailer, HBO has been keeping most information about the film's plot under wraps. According to Francesca Orsi, the Executive Vice President of HBO Programming, "Mountainhead" is a "bold examination of modern greed, power, and male ambition."

"Mountainhead" will premiere on HBO on May 31.

• Gracie Abrams spoke about her friendship with Taylor Swift in Billboard's new cover story.
• Abrams said that spending time with Swift makes her own fame feel manageable by comparison.
• "One of the things that I've felt lucky to observe is how extreme it can be," Abrams said.

Gracie Abrams may be a top-10 charting pop star who was raised by a blockbuster movie director, but she said her fame feels slight in the shadow of her mentor and friend, Taylor Swift.

In her ascent to mainstream renown, Abrams, 25, has been subjected to plenty of scrutiny about her love life (she's reportedly dating "Gladiator II" star Paul Mescal) and her family (she's faced "nepo baby" accusations thanks to her father, J.J. Abrams, whose credits include hit TV shows like "Lost" and major film franchises like "Star Wars" and "Star Trek").

However, in Billboard's new cover story, Abrams said spending time with Swift puts her own experience in the public eye into perspective.

"It's like, I really don't have it that bad in terms of invasion of privacy, you know what I mean?" Abrams said. "I feel like I learned a lot from her, obviously, but one of the things that I've felt lucky to observe is how extreme it can be [for her]. It helps right-size my own shit."

Still, that doesn't mean Abrams isn't harboring Swift-sized ambitions.

The two musicians became close when Swift enlisted Abrams as one of her opening acts on the Eras Tour; they ended up collaborating on a Grammy-nominated duet ("Us.") and sharing the stage multiple times during Swift's record-breaking stadium trek.

Asked if she hopes to headline her own stadium tour in the future, Abrams replied, "Hell yeah."

"I could have never imagined myself admitting to that," Abrams continued. "I think having had the privilege of opening for Taylor in the stadiums that we played, to now have a visual reference and a real sense of what it feels like to be on a stage in that environment… It's something that I miss and desperately hope to earn over time."

Abrams also said that, much like Swift, the scrutiny she's faced hasn't changed her approach to dating or diaristic songwriting. "That would be so unfortunate," she told Billboard.

Abrams released her debut EP, "Minor," in 2020, which served as an early lyrical inspiration for Olivia Rodrigo (who became another close friend after Abrams opened for Rodrigo's Sour Tour).

In addition to praise from her peers, Abrams also drew critical acclaim for songs like "I Miss You, I'm Sorry" in 2020 and "Rockland" in 2021 — but she didn't crack the Billboard Hot 100's top 10 until last year with "That's So True." The surprise hit was released as a deluxe track from her sophomore album, "The Secret of Us," which also yielded fan favorites like "I Love You, I'm Sorry" and "Risk."

In March, Abrams was honored as songwriter of the year at Billboard's annual Women in Music event, where Abrams thanked "the incomparable Miss Taylor Swift."

"I will never stop thanking her for the gift of her pen," Abrams said, "which very much raised me."

• On Monday, Katy Perry embarked on a space tourism mission with Jeff Bezos' company Blue Origin.
• The 10-minute round trip was criticized by some as unnecessary and self-indulgent.
• It's the latest in a series of PR missteps for the singer.

Katy Perry's art has recently been criticized as out of touch, and going all the way to outer space hasn't helped her image.

On Monday, Perry boarded one of Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin rockets for roughly 10 minutes of commercial space tourism. The six-person crew, which also included CBS News anchor Gayle King and Bezos' fiancée Lauren Sánchez, flew just above the Kármán line, the imaginary border of Earth's atmosphere, before returning safely to Texas.

In the days and hours leading up to the journey, Perry was the subject of a deluge of posts on social media that were alternately silly and furious that a pop star would be going on a promotional mission to space. For every funny post joking about the length of her trip, others lambasted Perry for being part of a mission they deemed wasteful and self-indulgent.

After Perry safely landed back on Earth, the comments continued rolling in.

"Today Katy Perry burned more emissions than Taylor Swift did during the entire Eras Tour. Taylor brought millions of dollars to local economies and the space trip contributed nothing to society…. Just a trip funded by a billionaire…." one user wrote.

"thinking 'we have to protect our mother' about the earth after going on a vanity space flight funded by a billionaire whose company is destroying said planet is just so funny, she's got jokes," another wrote.

The media also got in on the action, writing columns like "So Katy Perry went to space. Wasn't there anyone else we could have sent?" (the Guardian) and articles like "20 musicians who should get to go to space before Katy Perry" (NPR).

It didn't help that Perry had embarked on a media circuit ahead of the mission, ostensibly attempting to explain its value but giving her critics more fodder. Speaking with AP News, Perry recycled buzzwords — like "feminine divine" — that she often used to promote her latest album, "143," and waxed poetic about how the mission would fuel her personal interests.

"I was winding down from a [tour] rehearsal the other day and I was listening to 'Cosmos' by Carl Sagan and reading a book on string theory," she said. (In a useful bit of cross-promotion, Perry is also in the middle of her multi-continent Lifetimes tour and literally showed off the tour setlist in space in a video clip.)

"I've always been interested in astrophysics and interested in astronomy and astrology and the stars," Perry continued. "It'll be exciting to see them twinkle from that sight."

It begs the question: Exciting for whom? Perry's quotes about STEM and stars have drawn mockery on social media, while actor Olivia Munn openly criticized the Blue Origin mission as "gluttonous."

Blue Origin doesn't publicly disclose pricing for their private flights, but requesting to reserve a seat via the company's website requires a $150,000 deposit. Forbes reported that each passenger's ticket likely cost millions. The company's slogan is, "For the benefit of Earth," but to detractors, it looks an awful lot like a bunch of rich people taking an ego trip.

Many critics have noted the potential pollutants produced by rocket launches, especially frivolous ones — a reaction Perry could have foreseen, given all the heat celebrities like Taylor Swift and the Kardashians have gotten for flying on private jets.

It's the latest PR misstep for the singer, whose attempted pop comeback fell flat last year. The backlash started with her would-be hit single, "Woman's World," which took a swing at satire but missed the mark by a wide margin, leading to a full-blown "career crisis."

As the most instantly recognizable name in the crew, Perry's involvement with Blue Origin invited a lot of extra attention to its first all-female trip — and, by extension, to space tourism more broadly as a rapidly growing industry for the superrich.

Perry told Elle she has wanted to go to space for her entire adult life. "I was investigating all of the possible commercial options," she said.

During her interviews about the space mission, Perry has thrown in some talking points about inspiring the "next generation" of young girls to follow in her footsteps. Still, it's hard to think of a 10-minute joyride in a privately funded rocket as more than a vanity project — literally fulfilling a pop star's dream to "make space and science glam" and "put the 'ass' in astronaut," in Perry's own words — when the majority of Americans are worried about earthly concerns like affording a carton of eggs, staying employed, and paying off student-loan debt.

If Perry was hoping to remind fans that her once-fun brand, full of relatable teenage dreams and harmless dancing sharks, now seems out-of-touch— well, then, mission accomplished.

• Jason Isaacs portrayed Lucius Malfoy in the "Harry Potter" movie series from 2002 to 2011.
• Isaacs told BI that he doesn't see Malfoy as a stereotypical villain because his evil is realistic.
• "He's a guy that believes when old, white, rich people like him ruled the world… it was better."

Over two decades before Jason Isaacs had "The White Lotus" viewers meme-ing, debating, and dissecting his performance as Timothy Ratliff in season three, he played Lucius Malfoy — whom he called "an old-fashioned racist" — in "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets."

Isaacs, 61, has famously played several villainous characters, and his latest turn in "The White Lotus" shares parallels with his celebrated performance in "Harry Potter." Both Ratliff and Malfoy are deeply flawed patriarchal figures whose families are mired in wealth, power, and an overinflated sense of self-importance.

However, Isaacs said he wouldn't characterize any of his characters as classic storybook "villains" because their motivations are realistic — and, in the case of Malfoy, rooted in historical precedent.

"I take parts when I go, 'That's a human being.' Lucius is an old-fashioned racist and he's trying to make Hogwarts great again," Isaacs told Business Insider, alluding to President Donald Trump's slogan, "Make America Great Again."

"He's a guy that believes when old, white, rich people like him ruled the world — wizards with 'pure' wizarding blood — it was better," Isaacs continued. "The great American industrialists at the turn of the 20th century were all eugenicists. They didn't think they were villains."

In the "Harry Potter" series, Malfoy is among the loyal followers of Lord Voldemort, a group known as Death Eaters. Over the years, many readers and book critics have noted the group's parallels with the Nazi party, connecting Voldemort's oppression of non-magical people ("muggles") and wizards with mixed parentage ("half-bloods") with Adolf Hitler's antisemitic, white supremacist doctrine.

Alongside Alan Rickman as Severus Snape, Helena Bonham Carter as Bellatrix Lestrange, and Ralph Fiennes as Voldemort, Isaacs' Malfoy is among the most memorably sinister presences in the "Harry Potter" series, which wrapped with "Deathly Hallows: Part 2" in 2011.

Isaacs, who was raised Jewish in Liverpool, England, said he nearly passed on the beloved franchise because he was already committed to playing Captain Hook in P.J. Hogan's live-action "Peter Pan."

Isaacs had originally auditioned for Gilderoy Lockhart, a handsome narcissist who only appears in the second "Harry Potter" film, but was offered Malfoy instead. Though Isaacs was hesitant to play two "children's villains" in a row, his family members persuaded him to take the role — much to his relief, in retrospect.

"It was a joy because every couple of years, I'd go to 'Harry Potter' land for a month or two months. I wasn't on it very much. I was doing many television series and films in between," Isaacs said. "It was like going back to a holiday resort, seeing your old friends. It was a joy."

Malfoy will soon be re-cast for HBO's forthcoming "Harry Potter" reboot, which will reimagine the classic movie series as a TV show.

Though Isaacs admitted it'll be "weird" for the original actors to see new versions of their characters onscreen, he said he's made peace with Hollywood's cyclical nature.

"My kids don't know that Tobey Maguire was Spider-Man or even Andrew Garfield. For them, it's Tom Holland," he explained. "Roger Moore was my Bond."

"Everyone's got their own person. This new 'Harry Potter' will be for the new generation that will watch it," he continued, adding: "Such is life. We've had a good run."

Read BI's full Role Play interview with Jason Isaacs here.

On Sunday, over 6 million people watched Jason Isaacs tear into pieces of so-called "suicide fruit," pop them in a blender, and serve poisoned piña coladas to his fictional family on "The White Lotus."

Though the HBO anthology series' season three finale was full of twists and turns, none were quite so hard to swallow — literally — as the Ratliff family's near-fatal cocktail hour, which remained a focus of watercooler gossip even though the season's actual murders happened elsewhere.

It was the culmination of Isaacs' year-and-a-half-long experience of living with and through Timothy Ratliff — first by putting on "a ton of weight" to embody the self-indulgent financier, then by portraying his Lorazepam-addled spiral during a seven-month shoot in Thailand, and finally by deciphering the character's inner world for a long line of interviewers — all in the service of a rabid HBO audience eager to disseminate his juiciest quotes on social media and meme-ify his character's Duke T-shirt-wearing anguish.

Though Isaacs, 61, has been a reliable scene-stealer for decades, his spotlight is brighter now than ever. Not that he's hoping he'll get recognized at the grocery store or photographed on the street.

"I will be as famous as I've been before, probably for as briefly as it was before," Isaacs told Business Insider. "And then I'll disappear back into the crowd, as has happened many times before. And that's exactly how I like it."

If you haven't spent much time thinking about Isaacs prior to "The White Lotus," that's by design. Though he pops up everywhere from blockbusters like "Armageddon" to beloved franchises like "Harry Potter," he's made it his business to disappear into each of his characters without pretense or fanfare.

Since discovering his passion for acting while studying law, Isaacs spent the '90s doing a bit of everything, from starring with Daniel Craig in the acclaimed play "Angels in America" to appearing alongside Laurence Fishburne in the cult classic sci-fi movie "Event Horizon." But it was his performance in Roland Emmerich's "The Patriot" as a sadistic British officer during the American Revolution that would become his breakthrough role — though Isaacs objects to the term.

"I've known a couple of people who are super famous. They have a part that changed their life forever," Isaacs explained. "No part has changed my life forever. I just keep working."

Though Isaacs said he was offered a host of top-billed villains after "The Patriot," he turned most of them down, balking at the idea of accepting a role for more opportunities, more fame, or even more money. More than anything, he wants his audience to feel transported — an experience he's had most often when the actor's background or personal life is a mystery.

"When you ask me about my career," Isaacs said, "what I really want is to just go, 'If you ever see my name, watch it. Don't ever read anything I say or watch anything I do on the internet.'"

For the latest interview in Business Insider's Role Play series, Isaacs reflects on the twist-filled season three finale of "The White Lotus," the "odd experience" of working on a Michael Bay set, and the real-life roots of Lucius Malfoy's evil.

On what he thinks happened to the Ratliff family after leaving the White Lotus

Business Insider: In your last scene on the boat leaving the White Lotus, it doesn't seem like Lochlan has any idea that he was nearly poisoned by his dad. Do you imagine that Tim would ever come clean about that?

I think Tim is going to do an awful lot of taking his own inventory and do an awful lot of soul-searching, and I think he will come clean about all of it.

I think Tim's a new man. Most people don't change. Mike [White] is far too good a writer to give everyone huge changes. They don't change that much. Now, their circumstances are going to change a lot, and who knows what the Ratliffs will become when they have to face their new lives? But Tim has changed enormously, almost completely.

I can't help but think about that epiphany the family's going to have when they realize what was going on with the piña coladas. I mean, what a heart-wrenching moment it would be if Tim were to come clean about his intentions.

I don't know, I think when their phones start pinging, there are other things they'll be far more concerned about in the short term. Like, where are we going to live? How am I going to pay my cellphone bill? How are we going to put food in the fridge? All of their life plans have just been blown up. Piper wouldn't be going back to the monastery, whether she wanted to or not, because they won't be able to afford a plane ticket.

On saying yes to 'Peter Pan' and almost saying no to 'Harry Potter'

You played Captain Hook in "Peter Pan" and Lucius Malfoy in the "Harry Potter" series. Did you ever worry you'd get typecast as a villain with great hair?

No. I did shoot the two of them at the same time and I was going to turn Lucius down because I knew I was doing Captain Hook. I thought, "Ugh, two children's villains." I was persuaded not to by most of my relatives — my godchildren, nephews, and nieces — because they wanted to visit the set, I think. Not because they cared about my career.

No, you don't get typecast. There's no such thing. You can be type-offered, but you have to take the jobs.

After "The Patriot," for instance, which is another villain with a wig, I was offered a lot of bad guys opposite every single massively biceped, steroided-up, macho He-Man in Hollywood. And I turned 'em all down. I went and did a play and played a drag queen [in "Sweet November"] and "Black Hawk Down" and stuff.

So, when you are casting a film, which I've now done a few times, your first thought when someone goes, "It's a crazy old man," you go, oh, Bruce Dern. And then hopefully some good casting director goes, "The only thing is, he has done that 50 times. Do you want to be more imaginative than that?"

So I was the go-to for a minute — occasionally for more minutes when other films came out — for lip-curling, mustache-twirling villains, but I didn't take the jobs.

Well, at least the wigs were amazing.

The wigs were amazing. I love a wig. The thing is, men don't get to disguise themselves very much. Women can totally change their looks. And I love disguise.

I mean, I'm one of those actors that likes to try and be different every time, speak differently, walk differently, look differently. I put a ton of weight on to play Tim. I thought he was a fat cat and he's just a guy who overindulges with red wine and desserts and caviar and the rest of it. So I like a wig because that's part of the great disguise.

On the 'joy' of playing Lucius Malfoy and welcoming a new generation to Hogwarts

As somebody who likes to change their appearance and their style and their accent so much, was it difficult locking into such a long franchise like "Harry Potter" and having to return to that over and over?

Well, first of all, let me just display my allergy to the word franchise, which I hate. You are not the only person who uses it. I had a coffee in Starbucks this morning — that's a franchise. Burger King is a franchise. "Harry Potter" is a story. Beautiful stories.

But it wasn't difficult locking into it. It was a joy because every couple of years, I'd go to "Harry Potter" land for a month or two months. I wasn't on it very much. I was doing many television series and films in between. Lucius, after "Chamber of Secrets," made occasional appearances. But really, it was barely in my life. It was like going back to a holiday resort, seeing your old friends. It was a joy.

They're working on casting a new version of "Harry Potter" as an HBO series.

I know! My daughter's friend is in the casting office, and my goddaughter is in the writing room.

Have you suggested any actors that should take over your role?

One of the best casting directors in the world is doing it and they don't need my suggestions. Actually, they're getting phenomenal actors. It's going to be brilliant.

It's going to be weird for those of us who were in the films to be history and chip wrapping, but such is life. We've had a good run.

On Michael Bay vs. Ridley Scott and Shakespeare's best advice

From what I know about your filmography and from what you've been saying, "Armageddon" feels a bit like an outlier. Do you see it that way?

Not really. I'd done "Event Horizon," which was part of an ensemble.

I already had a bit of a career going in England. I was doing a comedy in Northern Ireland, Belfast, when I was offered "Armageddon" and they wanted me to drop out because filming started the next morning. I was offered one of the astronauts in "Armageddon." And I went, "I can't drop out!"

I remember this guy on the phone going, "Jason, you have to understand, this is a Bruce Willis project." And I went, "Mate, this is a David Thewlis project! But it doesn't make any difference. I'm still a professional actor. I signed a contract." [He said,] "You let us handle that." And I went, "No! You're not handling anything. I'm getting up in six hours and I'm on set."

They came back to me and said, "OK, if you can't play one of the astronauts, do you want to play this part? It's only eight days." I remember the agent going, "But they'll pay for you to stay in the hotel for six months. Six months, and we can get you some other meetings and work will go well."

So, it was an odd film for me. I don't know if it's an anomaly. I wouldn't have taken a part that small at the time, I think, if it hadn't worked out this way.

On the very first day I did, frankly, the only scene I had lots of lines in. And Michael Bay took a shining to me and said, "Oh, that was great. Let's have you back. We'll give you a clipboard, we'll stick you next to Billy Bob. You come in, you'll be in all the scenes, and we'll throw you a line here and there."

At the time, because I'm nicely brought up, I went, "Oh, thanks so much," thinking, "Are you fucking kidding me?" And then I was there, essentially as an extra, for six months. So it wasn't my favorite experience, although I did get to go to NASA and meet the people who'd been up in the International Space Station, all the rest of it. But I didn't like standing on the set for six months with a clipboard, hoping to be thrown a line like a fish on a fish farm.

That's funny that it was framed almost like a reward because the director liked you, but it didn't feel like a reward.

It's not his fault. It was nice. Look, I'm around producing occasionally, very rarely directing. You want the best people you can have on set to do anything at all. It's not insulting, but it's just — I didn't have any choice. I was paid for the whole film. I couldn't say, "Well, actually, no, Michael, I'm just going to come in for the eight days you booked me for."

So, I was there all the time — with, by the way, many other fabulous actors, who were great Broadway actors and people who were all the techs at NASA, who were also waiting to be thrown a line here and there. It was an odd experience. The entire film, frankly.

How does being directed by Michael Bay compare to being directed by someone like Ridley Scott a few years later?

[Laughs.] I don't know how much you know about Michael Bay. I'm not telling stories out of school. He's done lots of very successful films. It's a very alpha, macho style he has with these giant movies. He shouts a lot, and there's a lot of cameras swirling around, and there's a lot of screaming going on. And I think he wants to build tension on the set so that he gets tension on the camera.

Ridley is just this visual genius. Very quiet. He's whispering his orders to someone else and they're telling you, communicating. On "Black Hawk Down," we really had no contact with Ridley in many ways, because there were so many cameras. There were such gigantic scenes, he'd be in tent somewhere, and someone next to you with a walkie-talkie would tell you, "Walk down that street, the building's going to fall on you. A tank's going to fly over your head. Nine people are going to die and try and get your lines inside the helicopter." And you'd go, "Sorry, just explain that to me again?" And they go, "Don't worry, it'll all work out. Action!" So it was less about character and story than it was about these enormous set pieces.

I know you said you turned down a lot of villain roles, but are you drawn to characters with a strong dark side?

Oh no, just drawn to well-written stories. I don't really know what a villain is. If there's a part that's written to make the audience go, "Boo, hiss," they're very rarely human. Shakespeare said the job of storytelling is to hold the mirror up to nature. If you believe a character, you are going to react to them much more strongly. If they happen to be the antagonist in the story, fine, but they're the hero of their own story.

I take parts when I go, "That's a human being." Lucius is an old-fashioned racist and he's trying to make Hogwarts great again. He's a guy that believes when old, white, rich people like him ruled the world — wizards with "pure" wizarding blood — it was better. The great American industrialists at the turn of the 20th century were all eugenicists. They didn't think they were villains.

I take parts that are well-written. They make me look good as an actor because I look three-dimensional.

Have you ever played a character who was particularly difficult to shake, who felt like they were holding onto you?

No. I have a wife, and two kids, and a dog, and a mother-in-law, and old friends.

I feel them completely when I play them. And yes, I suppose if you're crying all day, you're not pretend-crying all day. So you feel sad somehow. Doing the film "Mass" was a study in grief and the great spiritual enlightenment that came with forgiveness. But if you're in grief, or if you're in anger all day, your cells carry it slightly.

But my brain could overcome that when I'm looking at people that I love. I know they're not dead or I know that I'm not angry at them. And you just have to give yourself a little bit of decompression time — but not days or weeks. Minutes or hours.

That's an important distinction. Some actors might say they live in it for longer than they intend to.

Well, then they're idiots.

This interview has been edited and condensed for length and clarity.

"The White Lotus" season three is streaming in full on Max.

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