A lot of people came for the pop singer Lorde after she posted a photo and caption that many thought was disrespectful to Whitney Houston. It was an image of a bathtub filled with water, and next to it read the words “I Will Always Love You,” which of course is Houston’s biggest hit. The picture has since been deleted.
Additionally, Houston was found submerged in a tub of water at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in 2012 and was pronounced dead shortly after. So a lot of folks thought Lorde knew what she was doing when she posted the photo and message.
“Come on, Lorde. Out of all the lyrics to use for your bath time you use Whitney lyrics,” one woman wrote. “Like, for why?”
According to another person, it’s wasn’t about whether the New Zealand singer made fun of Houston intentionally, it was about simply knowing better and using social media more responsibly.
“Lorde had to have known that by drawing a bath full of water, taking a picture and then using one of Whitney’s songs as a caption, that people would get and suspect that she was being shady,” someone tweeted. “It’s quite obvious. Maybe she didn’t mean it but still.”
However, some defended Lorde and accused the people who criticized her of wanting nothing but drama. Some also said age may have been a factor since the singer is now 21 and was only 15 when Houston passed away.
“Don’t think there’s anything sadder than Lorde being excited to take a bath on her day off, just to have the entire internet come after her for a short period of time, because she used the wrong quote for the wrong occasion,” wrote one of her supporters.
After the chatter grew louder, the “Royals” singer issued an apology and stated that she had no ill intent whatsoever.
“I am so sorry, everyone. This was a deeply poorly chosen quote about my love of bathing,” wrote Lorde. “I was meaning no disrespect and hadn’t put anything together because I’m dumb and it’s my day off. Sorry.”
The apology didn’t seem to stop the debate
https://twitter.com/leesology/status/982051884641996802
https://twitter.com/MrShaneReaction/status/982051731361148929
https://twitter.com/tetsono/status/982216692255178753?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cnn.com%2F2018%2F04%2F06%2Fentertainment%2Florde-whitney-houston-joke%2Findex.html
This is disgusting idk how people find it funny. Whitney was a legend. she was amazing. she was a queen. she was a strong black woman. I like lorde but this is truly disgusting pic.twitter.com/B5cR3tolaU
— black female (@privsari) April 6, 2018
https://twitter.com/bluefIickerbeat/status/982063560238010372?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=about%3Asrcdoc
C'mon Lorde out of all the lyrics to use for your bathtime u use Whitney lyrics…. Like for why?? pic.twitter.com/wL7O266fUb
— key¹² (@ilyviseul) April 6, 2018
https://twitter.com/tysandsnyc/status/982056794674683904?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cnn.com%2F2018%2F04%2F06%2Fentertainment%2Florde-whitney-houston-joke%2Findex.html
https://twitter.com/REGGllE/status/982060727514132480?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cnn.com%2F2018%2F04%2F06%2Fentertainment%2Florde-whitney-houston-joke%2Findex.html