Lorde has apologized after using what she described as an “extremely poorly chosen quote” on Instagram.
The 21-year-old pop singer sparked backlash on Thursday when she wrote “And iiii will always love you” to caption a photo of a filled bathtub, in reference to Whitney Houston’s 1992 song.
Many fans felt the caption was insensitive due to Houston’s death in 2012 after she died of accidental drowning in a hotel bathtub, as well as the effects of atherosclerotic heart disease and cocaine use contributing to her tragic passing.
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Lorde deleted the photo and issued a statement, writing, “Extremely extremely poorly chosen quote. I’m so sorry for offending anyone — I hadn’t even put this together I was just excited to take a bath.”
The singer added, “I’m an idiot. Love Whitney forever and ever. Sorry again.”
She wrote in a second post: “IT IS NOT MY FKN DAY TODAY”.
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Many people took to social media to discuss Lorde’s caption.
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Some people took to Lorde’s defence, suggesting the singer didn’t realize what she was doing when she captioned the photo.
After the singer began to receive criticism online, Lorde also responded in the comments on the Instagram page for The Shade Room.
“I am SO sorry everyone this was a deeply poorly chosen quote about my love of bathing. I was meaning no disrespect and hadn’t put anything together because I’m dumb and it’s my day off. SORRY,” she wrote.