Lorde

In 2017, Lorde cancelled a planned concert in Tel Aviv following appeals from pro-Palestinian activists. In 2025, she joined the No Music for Genocide campaign seeking to geoblock music catalogues in Israel, extending her cultural involvement in this issue in a distinct but consistent way.

State of the evidence

concert announced then cancelled, public reactions and subsequent geoblocking participation documented

Legal status — source text

no judicial proceedings against Lorde; an Israeli civil action connected with the 2017 cancellation targeted activists, not Lorde

Attribution

personal responsibility for artistic boycott decisions

Lorde released five songs reinterpreted in te reo Māori. The project was praised for raising the language's visibility but criticised by some Māori artists and commentators as an example of tokenism in which a Pākehā star benefited from access and attention rarely afforded to Māori artists.

State of the evidence

project release, Māori criticism and collaboration process documented

Legal status — source text

no judicial proceedings

Attribution

direct artistic responsibility; project carried out with several Māori experts and translators

Lorde posted a bathtub photograph with a line from I Will Always Love You, without making the connection to Whitney Houston's death in a bathtub. Online users considered the post extremely insensitive.

State of the evidence

deleted post and apology documented

Legal status — source text

no judicial proceedings

Attribution

personal responsibility for the publication

Following a performance by Kanye West and Kid Cudi in a suspended transparent box, Lorde accused them of having "stolen" a concept resembling the stage design of her Melodrama tour.

State of the evidence

Lorde's allegation and the designer's response documented

Attribution

personal responsibility for the public accusation of copying

Explaining the constraints of friendship with a major celebrity, Lorde compared the situation to having a friend with an autoimmune disease. Online users accused her of trivialising chronic illness.

State of the evidence

interview and public apology documented

Legal status — source text

no judicial proceedings

Attribution

personal responsibility for the analogy considered insensitive

The success of Royals sparked debate when critics argued that its references to gold, Cristal, Maybachs and other signs of wealth targeted conventions associated with Black hip-hop in a racialised manner rather than forms of wealth associated with white elites.

State of the evidence

song and critical controversy documented

Legal status — source text

no judicial proceedings

Attribution

artistic responsibility for the lyrics; allegation of racism is a matter of critical interpretation

Lorde criticised the theme of Come & Get It, saying that as a feminist she was tired of women being portrayed as available whenever a man wanted them. Selena Gomez replied that criticising another female artist in this way was not, in her view, feminism.

State of the evidence

Lorde's remarks and Selena Gomez's response documented

Legal status — source text

no judicial proceedings

Attribution

personal responsibility for her public criticism