Fame—it’s something Halsey wouldn’t wish on their worst enemy.
The ‘Without Me’ singer opened up about their return to the spotlight in a soul-bearing social media post this week, calling out the fan backlash to their new single, ‘Lucky,’ which dropped Friday.
“My own fans are hands down meaner to me than any other people on the planet,” they wrote on Tumblr. “Not speaking for all of you, of course. But it used to be just a minority that were awful to me and now it seems like a majority have only stuck around to chime in occasionally with their opinion of how much they hate me or how awful I am.
“it’s hard to want to engage in a space that is completely devoid of any kindness, sympathy, patience; or to be honest human decency. Especially after years of hiding from the interactions for fear that this EXACT thing would happen. I don’t know man. I almost lost my life. I am not gonna do anything that doesn’t make me happy anymore. I can’t spiritually afford it.”
After the release of their acclaimed 2021 album, If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power, Halsey’s career was waylaid by a series of health issues, including systemic lupus erythematosus and a rare T-cell lymphoproliferative disorder. When they got sick, the musician explained in the post, all they could think about was their eventual return to music.
“all I could think about was getting better so I could come back and be a part of THIS again,” they said, “but I don’t even know what *this* is anymore and I want to crawl in a hole and I regret coming back.”
Halsey, real name Ashley Frangipane, revealed the extent of their illnesses for the first time in a post last month. They were also diagnosed with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), Sjogren’s syndrome, and mast cell activation syndrome (MCAS). “long story short, i’m Lucky to be alive,” they wrote.
Their upcoming album, which will include ‘Lucky’ and previously announced single ‘The End,’ is expected to deal with their medical issues and the journey back to wellness.
‘Lucky,’ a reworking of Britney Spears’ own hit of the same name from 2000, briefly courted controversy upon its release, with a tweet appearing on Spears’ X account claiming she planned to take legal action against Halsey.
“For obvious reasons I’m very upset about the Halsey video. I feel harassed, violated, and bullied,” a screenshot captured by TMZ read.
The tweet was quickly deleted, however, and Spears later disavowed it, writing, “Fake news !!! That was not me on my phone !!! I love Halsey and that’s why I deleted it !!!”
In a post of their own, Halsey responded, “and I love Britney!!!! I always have and always will… you were the first person who ever made me realize what it means to feel inspired. And you continue to inspire me everyday.”
Halsey also previously told an inquiring fan that they’d obtained permission from Spears to interpolate the original ‘Lucky.’ “yes of course! I wouldn’t even dream of doing it without her blessing!” they wrote on X.
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