Entertainment gossip and news from Newsweek’s network of contributors
Dua Lipa may have just earned herself some “Bad Blood” — at least with Swifties!
The 29-year-old singer caught heat for her conversation with Anderson Cooper from the Sunday, September 15 episode of CBS series 60 Minutes. Cooper asked the performer about criticism that her songs don’t give “a sense of who you are,” adding, “You’re not pouring out your innermost fears and desires and wants.”
Lipa seemed to think for a moment, before responding, “Some people are just so ruthless with their own private life that they decide to put it all out in a song, because they know that it’s gonna attract people’s attention.”
Dua Lipa headlines The Pyramid Stage during day three of Glastonbury Festival 2024 at Worthy Farm, Pilton on June 28, 2024 in Glastonbury, England. In September 2024, the singer made some comments during a ’60 Minutes’ episode that had fans wondering if she was taking aim at Taylor Swift.
Harry Durrant/Getty Images
She continued, “And for me, it was always important to make music that people really loved. Not because I was putting someone out on blast, or not because I’m doing it for the clickbait at maybe someone else’s expense.”
Though Lipa did not drop any names, Swifties quickly took to X (formerly Twitter) to share their frustrations with her statement. One posted, “‘Attract people’s attention’ baby music and writing especially comes naturally to real artists and if that’s not the case well.”
I really hate when artists do this. Dua Lipa could just say she isn’t a confessional songwriter herself and leave it at that.
Instead she acts out of insecurity shading other women. It’s so disrespectful to minimise the artistry of women like Lana, Taylor, Olivia, Sabrina etc pic.twitter.com/3KoW9R5FTT
— Mars (@Marsspace17_) September 15, 2024
Another fan commented, “And this is exactly why she won’t last in this industry. No one knows who ‘Dua Lipa’ is other than the cute pop star. In order for an artist to thrive and build a fanbase the audience needs to be able to connect to something. Fans aren’t gonna stick around for soulless pop music.”
While some defended Dua Lipa — like one person who posted a silly meme with the comment, “DUA GET BEHIND ME SOME FANS ARE GONNA TAKE THIS AS SHADE!!!!!” — many felt it was an unnecessary slam against many female pop artists.
Like it’s just such a shady thing to say. She’s arguing that other women are using confessional songwriting for click bait when it’s just genuine artistic expression.
It would be like me saying Dua always uses sex and her body for click bait instead of it just being expression.
— Mars (@Marsspace17_) September 15, 2024
“I really hate when artists do this. Dua Lipa could just say she isn’t a confessional songwriter herself and leave it at that,” one person wrote, adding, “Instead she acts out of insecurity shading other women. It’s so disrespectful to minimise the artistry of women like Lana, Taylor, Olivia, Sabrina etc.”
It’s worth noting that Swift’s most recent album — The Tortured Poets Department — which one could arguably call emotional and personal, immediately smashed records upon its release, including Swift’s own. The album became Spotify’s most streamed album in one day, garnering 300 million streams in a 24-hour period.
At the MTV Video Music Awards on Wednesday, September 11, The Tortured Poets Department won Swift a host of awards — including best collaboration with Post Malone, song of the summer, best direction, and best editing, all for “Fortnight” — making her the most-decorated solo artist in the history of the VMAs.