Lana Del Rey’s see-through mask irks fans: ‘You make good music but poor decisions’

Musician Lana Del Rey was dragged over the weekend for wearing a mesh mask that was more of a fashion statement than a public health decision at a book signing in Los Angeles.

The “Norman F— Rockwell� artist displayed her sparkly face covering in an Instagram Live stream Saturday and was immediately skewered by her followers for not protecting herself and others with the see-through mask.

“lana sweetie what is this mask,� one commenter wrote. Another joked, “ok miss republicana del rey�

“Girl thats not a mask. you make good music but poor decisions,� another user added.

A recording posted on Del Rey’s Instagram feed (which includes crude language below) showed several members of her team wearing cloth face coverings, which are recommended and required in many public places to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus.

“girl I love you but you’re asking to get dragged,� observed another user, and “ur setting urself up at this point we cant defend you.�

Then there were comments that were more derogatory — and others that we can’t publish here — among them: “u have lost your damn mind.�

The “Summertime Sadness� singer went live to promote her new poetry book, “Violet Bent Backwards Over the Grass.� She attended the book-signing event at the Barnes & Noble store at the Grove shopping complex, where she left signed copies and leaflets.

In L.A., everyone is asked to wear a face covering when they are interacting with others who are not members of their household.

And it certainly was a covering, in that it obstructed the lower half of her face, but its loose, beaded lattice design likely wouldn’t protect her or others from respiratory droplets that could spread the coronavirus that causes COVID-19. (She wore a similarly diaphanous style on the September 2020 cover of Interview magazine.)

Del Rey, 35, also posted a video driving through crowds of supporters — much like another person you might have seen over the weekend — and waving to her fans, telling them to stay safe.

Del Rey hasn’t directly addressed the controversy but shared a new video Sunday in which she wore a thicker cloth covering and recited the poem “Never to Heaven.� She read the poem aloud while masked and removed it when she was done.

Representatives for the singer did not immediately respond to The Times’ request for comment Monday.