Some upsetting news has crossed my desk: Lana Del Rey and Ethel Cain are beefing. Had no idea these two didn’t like each other? Same. But all of Tumblr did. Let’s take a walk.
Del Rey continues: “Hard to roll in slow motion/ Hard to say no to precaution/ Hard to stop when it’s like an ocean/ Not afraid to say I’m going down in flames.”
Immediately, the terminally online fans of both artists began posting explanations about how the reference has something to do with Del Rey and Cain’s respective ties to Jack Donoghue, a songwriter, rapper, producer, and the co-founder of S4Lem. In 2022, Del Rey shared a photograph of herself and Donoghue posing outside Cook County Jail (I don’t know, man), amid rumors they were dating. Shortly after, Cain reportedly posted a photo of herself with Donoghue on Twitter, then deleted it.
Later on in the song, Del Rey purs: “The most famous girl at the Waffle House/ I don’t regret it/ The most famous girl at the Waffle House.” Obviously, it was headline news that Del Rey had a brief and inexplicable stint working as a waitress at an Alabama Waffle House in 2023. But fans have pointed out there’s a double, Cain-related meaning here. In 2022, the same year Del Rey was rumored to have dated Donoghue, Cain was featured in the New York Times. The title? “The Most Famous Girl At The Waffle House.” Ope!
Your friends who still use Tumblr suspect that their apparent bad blood is also related to Cain’s reported annoyance at being compared to Del Rey. Previous Tumblr posts from Cain have circulated, including one post in which she bemoaned being compared to “the lady” (Del Rey, supposedly) until the day she dies. Another post has Cain replying to a fan who claimed “Lana Del Rey walked so Ethel Cain could run.” Cain responded: “I pushed her over when I ran past,” and “She’ll never catch up to me in her Macy’s dress.”
According to Del Rey, however, these posts are just the tip of the iceberg. In a comment on a Pop Base post about the new song, Del Rey claimed Cain had also body-shamed her.
“I didn’t know who Ethel was until a few years ago — when someone brought to my attention the disturbing and graphic side-by-side images she would often put up of me next to unflattering creatures and cartoon characters making constant comments about my weight, I was confused at what she was getting at,” Del Rey wrote. “Then when I heard what she was saying behind closed doors from mutual friends and started inserting herself into my personal life I was definitely disturbed.”
Because Cain has yet to comment on the matter, we’re left with the impression that this alt-pop beef is due to a few alleged shady posts and because of a musician who looks like every third dude in the Midwest. Anyway, if anyone wants this fan’s two cents, I think these two should just pull a “Girl, so confusing,” and end it with a collaboration…
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