Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
The Independent UK
The Independent UK
Lifestyle
Inga Parkel

Lana Del Rey hits back at Christian influencer who accused singer of ‘witchcraft’

Getty Images / Instagram

Lana Del Rey has responded to a Christian influencer who accused the singer of using “demonic energy” to knock down a crowd during one of her summer concerts.

In August, following the 38-year-old “Summertime Sadness” singer-songwriter’s Mexico City show, alarming footage emerged of her fans toppling like dominos. The show continued, however, and no injuries were publicly reported.

Although the exact cause was never discovered, science expert Keith Still told The Messenger that the incident was likely due to “progressive crowd collapse”.

“In general, any penned area, if you don’t if you don’t regulate the crowd flow in, it can become packed and you’ve got this risk of shockwaves,” he said.

Nearly a month after the event, Christian influencer Traci Costan reacted to clips of the phenomenon in an Instagram reel, claiming that it was “demonic energy” that knocked over the crowd.

“Lana Del Rey has been open about practising witchcraft,” she began, “and y’all look at what happened at one of her concerts. This stuff is so real.

“This is not normal, okay, that’s not a moshpit,” Costan continued. “Whatever witchcraft Lana Del Rey is doing – the spells she’s putting on her music to make it attractive – those demons are being invited into the crowd and into you when you attend.”

She added: “These demons will destroy your life. How do I know? Because people come to me for deliverance to get rid of the demons that they get through stuff like this.”

Before the comments were recently turned off on Costan’s 4 September post, according to Stereogum, Del Rey managed to post a response from her @honeymoon account.

“B*** I know the Bible verse for verse better than you do,” the “Young and Beautiful” singer wrote. “PS you’re giving off super gremlin energy. Not in a good way.”

Del Rey has been vocal about her religious beliefs, previously opening up in interviews about her belief in God.

“My understanding of God has come from my own personal experiences... because I was in trouble so many times in New York that if you were me, you would believe in God too,” she told The Quietus in 2011.

“When things get bad enough, your only resort is to lie in bed and start praying. I dunno about congregating once a week in a church and all that, but when I heard there is a divine power you can call on, I did. I suppose my approach to religion is like my approach to music – I take what I want and leave the rest.”

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.