Lana Del Rey: What’s up with her nude and barely there mask?
Grammy nominee Lana Del Rey is a platinum-selling artist, world-famous pop star, and now a poetry author. Poetry is a big inspiration for her, especially works from authors Walt Whitman & Allen Ginsburg. Poetry is also not foreign to her work – seven poems by Del Rey became spoken monologues for her films & music videos. She’s even recited Whitman’s poems in her 2013 short film Tropico.
Lana Del Rey has been working on her first book Violet Bent Backwards Over the Grass since 2018. She wrote many of the poems while working on her 2019 album Norman Fucking Rockwell! during stints of writer’s block. Simon & Schuster published the book on Sept. 29th, and on Oct. 3rd Del Rey held a book signing at a Barnes & Noble in Los Angeles.
Lana Del Rey announced the surprise book signing on Instagram, and it went viral. There isn’t an estimated attendance number for the event, and not all her 17.3 million Instagram followers live in Los Angeles; however, we imagine a good chunk do.
Having an in-person book signing is not the best idea during COVID-19, but neither was Lana Del Rey’s mask choice. In the Instagram post & at the book signing, she wore a gold mesh mask and was not shy with fans. Footage from the event showed her getting close & personal with fans for photos. You can even see Del Rey’s smile through her mesh mask.
The CDC recommends a face-covering made of two or more layers of breathable, washable fabric, created from a material such as cotton. We can’t tell if there was a second invisible layer in the mask. If there wasn’t – Del Rey should never have been allowed in Barnes & Nobel anyways.
The book signing was at The Grove location, and the store’s website says, “Face coverings are required during your visit.” Lana Del Rey did not pass the CDC’s or Los Angeles’s guidelines on facemasks. Regardless of her celebrity status, she should have been required to change masks or not be allowed in.
Lana Del Rey was not immune to backlash. Del Rey’s fans were split about the mask controversy. Some wrote comments condemning the artist for her mesh mask, while others wrote messages telling her how much her work means to them. One Instagram comment summed up many fans’ feelings, “ILY BUT WEAR A PROPER MASK.”
Fans were quick to point out, Lana Del Rey also wore the mask on the cover of Interview Magazine. The outlet does not condone Del Rey’s mask choice saying, “Please wear a mask. Just not, you know, this one.” While her mesh facemask might be fashionable for a magazine cover shoot, it’s not functional during a pandemic.
Regardless if Lana Del Rey wanted to show off the mask or not, some fans were not happy when she wore a proper mask in an Instagram post the next day. One commenter wrote on the post, “FINALLY A PROSPER MASK OMG.” Others wrote messages of support, “Poor woman has her video flooded with mask comments when she’s just tryna show us a poem y’all are something else.”
Lana Del Rey hasn’t made a public comment, but some take her video with the proper mask as her apology. According to CBS, Del Rey tested negative before the event. Even so, it’s not worth risking someone else’s life to share a moment with fans – whether she wore the right mask or not.
Next for Lana Del Rey is her seventh studio album, Chemtrails over the Country Club. The album, originally slated for Sept. 7th, is releasing on either Dec. 10th or Jan. 7th. According to Del Rey, it looks more like January. One reason is because vinyls take eleven weeks to make. The second reason is she can’t decide if she wants to include the previously teased song “Dealer,” which is tentatively track eight on the album.
