Halsey is firing back at music critic Anthony Fantano for his scathing review of her 2024 album 'The Great Impersonator', accusing him of peddling "main character syndrome" – a cheap shot that's left the singer-songwriter seething. The American star has long been open about her battles with chronic illness and postpartum depression, and it seems Fantano's comments have struck a nerve.
Halsey's fifth studio album is a deeply personal exploration of her struggles with lupus and a rare T-Cell lymphoproliferative disorder – and it's received widespread critical acclaim. NME, for one, hailed it as a "brutal but brilliant reckoning" with these health challenges. But Fantano's 'decent one' out of 10 review sparked a heated exchange between the artist and the critic, which intensified on social media over the weekend.
The controversy began when an X user expressed their disagreement with Fantano's review, prompting him to respond with a snobbish comment about listeners being more interested in the review than the album itself. Halsey wasn't having it, firing back: "I'm certain my least memorable song will be remembered more fondly and for more time than anything you ever do with your life will be." She accused Fantano of being "whiny" and "edgy", despite her own experiences with chemotherapy.
Halsey has been candid about her health struggles, including undergoing chemotherapy treatments. But she's now arguing that Fantano's comments validated fears among women dealing with serious health issues – that they'll be perceived as attention-seeking if they speak out. "Being a woman dealing with serious health issues often means being afraid of telling the truth about the pain you're in because you're afraid of not being believed or seeming attention seeking," she wrote on X.
The singer also took aim at what she sees as a bias against women creating confessional pop tracks, labelling Fantano an "edgelord bully" and accusing him of only caring about clicks. This debate highlights the ongoing tension between artists and critics – but it's also raising important questions around gender, illness, and how we receive personal narratives in music.
It's not just critics who are under fire, either – Halsey revealed last year that her record label was hesitant to greenlight a new album due to 'The Great Impersonator's' commercial performance. Despite selling 100,000 copies in its first week and her subsequent tour breaking records, the label wanted something more commercially successful – like her earlier hit album 'Manic'.