Halsey Does A Big Oopsie Whoopsie, Accidentally Calls For Another 9/11
If you're an artist, a good rule of thumb is that it's never a good look to snipe back at critics who don't love your work. Chances are you'll hurt your goodwill with fans by looking petty and overly sensitive, at best. At worst you may accidentally call for another 9/11.
That's the situation pop singer Halsey found herself in this morning when she responded to a middling Pitchfork review of her new album, Manic, by saying she hoped "the basement they run p*tchfork out of would just collapse."
There are a few issues with this tweet. Among the lesser issues are that Pitchfork gave Halsey a 6.5/10, which is hardly a pan. Second, Halsey has 12 million Twitter followers, so censoring "Pitchfork" like fans wouldn't find it is pretty ridiculous. The biggest issue, however, is that "the basement they run Pitchfork out of" is the One World Trade Center, which New York City constructed after the collapse of the Twin Towers.
Naturally, this coincidence was not lost on music-focused Twitter users, who had a field day over Halsey's gaffe.
Clearly, Halsey was not actively calling for another 9/11, and she later deleted the tweet and posted a clarification (which was also deleted). Nevertheless, the lesson of this whole fracas is never, ever, ever tweet, about anything, ever.