Lana Del Rey has blasted the Guardian over a recent interview piece where she was quoted as saying "I wish I was dead already," with the singer now suggesting the line of questioning was calculated and contained "sinister ambitions."
Over a series of tweets (see below) that have since been deleted from her account, the singer explained that she took issue with the final results of the interview, which was conducted by the Guardian's Tim Jonze, MTV [via Pitchfork] reports. The complaint, however, lists the interviewer as "Alexis," presumably referring to writer Alexis Petridis, who had reviewed Del Rey's new Ultraviolence for the publication.
"i regret trusting the guardian — i didn't want to do an interview but the journalist was persistent," she posted yesterday (June 19). "Alexis was masked as a fan but was hiding sinister ambitions and angles. Maybe he's actually the boring one looking for something interesting to write about. His leading questions about death and persona were calculated."
The quote had been used in the lede of the story, with Jonze explaining that they had been discussing fallen stars like Amy Winehouse and Kurt Cobain, leading the journo to ask Del Rey if she found death glamourous.
Following Del Rey's critique of the piece, Jonze posted a rebuttal where he posted the audio from the interview, and noted that it seemed on-point to quiz an artist who had put out an album called Born to Die about death.
"Besides the fact Lana doesn't remember who actually interviewed her, there are a number of things about her statement that sound a bit iffy to me," Jonze wrote. "She may well have not wanted to do the interview but it certainly didn't seem like it — she was delightful company for the 70 minutes we spent talking, and was happy to continue over the allotted time when the PR knocked on the door, an hour in, and asked how we were getting on. I was not 'masked' as a fan, I genuinely like her music and really liked her too — her life story is fascinating, she was refreshingly open when answering even the most difficult question and she seemed completely in love with music."
Jonze added that Del Rey doesn't allege that he's made up her quotes or "twisted" their meaning, but rather "seems annoyed by the fact I wanted her to say interesting things and asked questions that caused her to do so," adding, "Well sorry, Lana, but that's just me doing my job."
Del Rey has not yet responded to Jonze's defence of the interview.
Over a series of tweets (see below) that have since been deleted from her account, the singer explained that she took issue with the final results of the interview, which was conducted by the Guardian's Tim Jonze, MTV [via Pitchfork] reports. The complaint, however, lists the interviewer as "Alexis," presumably referring to writer Alexis Petridis, who had reviewed Del Rey's new Ultraviolence for the publication.
"i regret trusting the guardian — i didn't want to do an interview but the journalist was persistent," she posted yesterday (June 19). "Alexis was masked as a fan but was hiding sinister ambitions and angles. Maybe he's actually the boring one looking for something interesting to write about. His leading questions about death and persona were calculated."
The quote had been used in the lede of the story, with Jonze explaining that they had been discussing fallen stars like Amy Winehouse and Kurt Cobain, leading the journo to ask Del Rey if she found death glamourous.
Following Del Rey's critique of the piece, Jonze posted a rebuttal where he posted the audio from the interview, and noted that it seemed on-point to quiz an artist who had put out an album called Born to Die about death.
"Besides the fact Lana doesn't remember who actually interviewed her, there are a number of things about her statement that sound a bit iffy to me," Jonze wrote. "She may well have not wanted to do the interview but it certainly didn't seem like it — she was delightful company for the 70 minutes we spent talking, and was happy to continue over the allotted time when the PR knocked on the door, an hour in, and asked how we were getting on. I was not 'masked' as a fan, I genuinely like her music and really liked her too — her life story is fascinating, she was refreshingly open when answering even the most difficult question and she seemed completely in love with music."
Jonze added that Del Rey doesn't allege that he's made up her quotes or "twisted" their meaning, but rather "seems annoyed by the fact I wanted her to say interesting things and asked questions that caused her to do so," adding, "Well sorry, Lana, but that's just me doing my job."
Del Rey has not yet responded to Jonze's defence of the interview.
