Halsey on 'Lucky' backlash - "I regret coming back"

Updated July 31, 2024, 9:27 a.m. | By Tamlyn Canham

"It’s hard to want to engage in a space that is completely devoid of any kindness, sympathy, patience" - Halsey is questioning her decision to release new music.

Halsey wearing a black cropped top — Halsey/ Instagram (@iamhalsey)

Singer Halsey is reacting to the backlash her new song and music video, 'Lucky', has received online.

The 29-year-old, whose real name is Ashley Nicolette Frangipane, says she regrets returning to music after taking a break to focus on her health.

"My own fans are hands down meaner to me than any other people on the planet. 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," she wrote on her Tumblr page.

The 'Bad at Love' singer revealed in June that she has been secretly battling a serious health condition. She told her fans that she was diagnosed with Lupus SLE and a rare T-cell lymphoproliferative disorder in 2022.

She opens up about her health in her song, 'The End', which was released last month. She gets even more personal in the lyrics for 'Lucky'.

"I shaved my head four times because I wanted to / And then I did it one more time 'cause I got sick (I'm so lucky) / And I thought I'd change so much, nobody would notice it / And no one did / Then I left the doctor's office full of tears / Became a single mom at my premiere / And I told everybody I was fine for a whole damn year / And that's the biggest lie of my career," Halsey sings.

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Despite pouring her heart out in her new music, Halsey was slammed for using an interpolation of Britney Spears' 'Lucky' song.

Some claimed she was taking advantage of Britney, while others accused her of mocking the 'Oops... I Did It Again!' singer. Things got uglier when Britney seemingly slammed Halsey, calling her new music video "downright cruel".

Halsey says in her Tumblr post that she's struggling with the hate.

"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."

She adds that she was excited to return to the studio but is now questioning her decision.

"When I got sick all I could think about was getting better so I could come back and be a part of THIS again, but I don’t even know what *this* is anymore and I want to crawl in a hole and I regret coming back."

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Halsey's fans have defended her, especially after she released a stripped-down version of 'Lucky'.

"This version feels so raw and emotional to me. The intimate storytelling feels like a warm and comforting hug. This song just gets me in my feels. It’s so beautiful," one fan wrote on YouTube.

Another added: "This version is so much more intimate."

A third wrote: "Please don’t ever leave. We’re here, we might be few but I swear we’re enough for millions. Please give us one more chance. Your REAL fans."

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