Teenage singer Lorde was bombarded by the press as she arrived home in Auckland after two Grammy wins on Sunday night. The crowd of photographers and journalists were so aggressive, they almost pushed the teenage singer and her family over as they tried to get their shots, which Lorde later complained about on Twitter.
“I know that success comes with a price tag,” she tweeted, in a now-deleted post. “It just sucks when you see that in your tiny home country where you previously felt safe.”
She continued: “There is a difference between attn [sic] from fans, which I love, and the constant, often lecherous gaze that I’m subjected to in this industry. I’m beginning to get used to my image as a public commodity and the fact that I’m getting used to it frightens me.”
This isn’t the first time Lorde has openly objected to the type of media attention she’s received. Earlier this month, in an interview with Rookie Magazine, Lorde told interviewer Tavi Gevinson:
I have never done media training. I feel like I probably should have, because then I could’ve better identified some of that baiting in the beginning. Now I’m really good at it. But I think people don’t realize how weird it is to go from being a teenager or being just a human being who has opinions and freely discusses them with other people, to having everything you say scrutinized and taken out of context…. I’m much better now at understanding journalists’ intentions. It sounds really jaded, but I think it’s good to never forget that you’re with a journalist. Even if you’re being mates, there’s some intention there. So I try to remember, “Don’t bro down with everyone!”
Luckily for Lorde, whose real name is Ella Yelich-O’Connor, her return to New Zealand wasn’t completely marred by the press. The airport staff also greeted her by performing a haka — a traditional dance of New Zealand’s Māori people — and eager fans waved cardboard banners and signs.
[Guardian]