Lana Del Rey and Kelsea Ballerini Defend Their Facial Expressions at the Grammys

By Emma Chance | Celebrity | February 9, 2024 |

By Emma Chance | Celebrity | February 9, 2024 |

Lana Del Rey has been playing defense since last week’s Grammys ceremony when fans worried she didn’t have a good time based on her facial expressions. Specifically, they noted that she looked sad when she lost Album of the Year to Taylor Swift.

“I literally just loved being there. I love to see everyone, get the tea and hang out. Get dressed up and I literally did not feel 1 ounce of negative emotion at any point in that award ceremony. It was pure funniness and laughter,” Del Rey wrote in an Instagram comment.

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Swift, for her part, dragged her friend onto the stage with her to accept the award, and then thanked her in her speech.

Country singer Kelsea Ballerini also had to defend her facial expressions when she lost Best Country Album to Lainey Wilson.

Do you see a negative reaction there? Because I don’t. I see a woman clapping.

“Ohhh yall. You can be bummed for your loss and happy for somebody else’s win at the same time. Two things can be true and both hold valid and valuable space. The face reading and reaction analysis is unnecessary and hurtful to everyone. A woman’s win is a team win. Write about that instead?” Ballerini wrote on her Instagram stories.

I shouldn’t be surprised that the internet is champing at the bit for a chance to pit women against each other—it’s nothing new—but I am a little surprised that we’re still studying their facial expressions with such ferocity, assigning malice and sadness where it does not exist, simply because they’re not grinning from ear to ear. Call me naive, but I thought we’d gotten past telling women to smile.