Recently, there has been a lot of online tension between alt-pop artists Lana Del Rey and Ethel Cain. While this beef may seem to come out of nowhere, the details found in deleted social media posts over the past few years may shed some light on what is going on between the two artists.
Ethel Cain (real name Hayden Anhedönia) is a 27-year-old alt-pop artist born in Perry, Florida. Like Lana Del Ray, Cain’s persona is known for its Southern Americana aesthetic, through images of American flags and religion, though their approach and outlook to the style differ.
Cain was once a huge Lana Del Rey fan in high school, even listing Lana as one of her favorite artists in a 2010s Deviant Art account.
In a 2021 interview with Our Culture, Ethel Cain shared that the first CD she owned was Lana Del Rey’s Born to Die. However, Cain explained that as she got older, she realized the American Dream, which Lana glamorizes, is “all a sham.”
“I don’t want to portray that, I don’t want to portray some kind of glamorous, beautiful persona. I want something that’s raw and freaky and scary because to me, that’s what America is,” Cain said.
It wasn’t long after Cain began posting her music online in 2017 that listeners started making comparisons of the artists due to their similar Americana aesthetics. At one point, Ethel Cain uploaded a tweet in response, stating, “I think it’s kind of a detriment to the expansive work of two female artists to just reduce them to being similar to each other.” This tweet has since been deleted, like many other posts Ethel has made about Lana.
If Cain appeared to be a fan of Del Rey, even publicly defending Lana’s work as an artist, where does this feud come from?
On Aug. 13, Lana Del Rey soft-launched what seemed to be a diss track aimed at the up-and-coming artist, Ethel Cain, sparking rumors of a feud between the two.
Lana name-drops Cain in the first line: “Ethel Cain hated my Instagram post / Think it’s cute reenacting my Chicago pose.”
Fans speculate that the first line of Lana’s “diss-track” is referring to both artists’ relationships with Jack Donoghue.
On July 12, 2022, Lana hard-launched her relationship with Salem band member, Jack Donoghue, in an Instagram post by posing in front of Chicago’s Cook County Jail.
Ethel Cain, who at one point was also very close with Jack, then posted (but quickly deleted) a picture of her and Jack, with the caption reading “ok wait my turn.”
In another line, Lana Del Ray sings, “The most famous girl at the Waffle House.” Many listeners suspect this line to be a reference to The New York Times profile about Cain, which names her “The Most Famous Girl at the Waffle House.”
According to a comment left by Lana Del Ray herself, she defends the diss-track by stating, “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. 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.”
While fans have been able to dig up all of the other deleted posts of Ethel’s regarding the situation, they have yet to verify any post of Ethel’s which Lana could be referring to. Therefore, Lana’s claims of cyberbullying have yet to be proven.
Personally, Ethel Cain’s only response to Lana’s snippet was an Instagram story post on Aug. 14, in which she writes on a black screen, “update: Lana Del Rey has blocked Ethel Cain on Instagram.”
Cain’s sister, on the other hand, has clapped back on her Instagram story, stating, “I can’t wait to watch your hologram perform this ‘diss-track’ while you hit your vape backstage diva @honeymoon what inspired you to suddenly make a country album??”
With all that being said, it still isn’t entirely clear what’s going on here, and neither Ethel Cain nor Lana Del Rey has made any official statements regarding the online drama.
So is Lana Del Ray valid in this diss? Or is she just tearing down a new and younger artist?
Why does this drama matter?
Spoiler alert: it doesn’t.
While it’s fun to read or talk about, ultimately, this drama is unimportant, petty, and frankly not worthy of public attention. At its core, it’s just two artists with similar styles and different perspectives in an industry that thrives on conflict and internet speculation. Rather than focusing on their music or artistic representation, the media latches onto vague posts, misinterpreted lyrics, and social media unfollows as if they carry a deep significance. In reality, none of this drama affects the world in any meaningful way. It doesn’t change policies, improve lives, or contribute to culture in a lasting sense. At the end of the day, it’s all just going to fade into the endless wheel of online gossip.
So go read a book or do something actually productive.
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