Pop culture has been pitting female pop stars against each other for eons. Britney Spears versus Christina Aguilera, Madonna versus Janet Jackson, Taylor Swift versus Katy Perry—the list goes on and on. These (usually baseless) "feuds" are reductive and prove sexism is alive and thriving. I mean, when was the last time you heard about two male singers quarreling? I'll wait.
The latest girl-fight case happened just last month between Demi Lovato and Halsey. It all started when Halsey told Paper magazine that she's tired of seeing bisexuality exploited in pop music. "[I don't like that] bisexuality [is seen] as a taboo: ‘Don’t tell your mom,' or ‘We shouldn’t do this,' or 'This feels so wrong but it’s so right,'" she said. And she's absolutely right: This type of wordplay trivializes the real queer experience. People should've applauded Halsey for calling it out.
But they created a spat between her and Lovato instead. The narrative quickly became that Halsey was specifically calling Lovato out for queer-baiting. In Lovato's 2015 song "Cool for the Summer," she has the lyric "Don't tell your mother," which is very similar to what Halsey references in her quote. Things escalated when Lovato tweeted this shortly after Halsey's interview went live:
X content
This content can also be viewed on the site it originates from.
Is it possible Halsey and Lovato were shading each other? Of course—but there was no proof of anything. People took these general comments as confirmation they were daggers for each other because they love turning nothing into something.
Halsey and Lovato just took the power back, though. The "Sorry Not Sorry" singer recently posted a photo of herself hugging Halsey at an event, which suggests they're not at odds with each other.
"Ran into this beauty today," Lovato captioned the very sweet pic. See it for yourself, below:
Instagram content
This content can also be viewed on the site it originates from.
There you have it, folks: Another (media-manipulated) female "feud" debunked. Here's hoping this is the last one. Lovato and Halsey have better things to do—like collaborate.
RELATED: Demi Lovato Is Releasing a "Raw" and "Deeply Moving" Documentary About Her Life
