Halsey wants everyone to pull a Taylor Swift and calm down over reports accusing her of texting and “fully ignoring” Shawn Mendes’ MTV Video Music Awards performance on Monday night.
The “Without Me” singer clarified in a tweet on Tuesday exactly why cameras caught her looking down at her phone during Mendes’ performance of “If I Can’t Have You.”
“Can everyone stop saying I was checking my phone during Shawn’s performance I was texting my mom to make sure she was ok in the audience!!!!!!” Halsey wrote, adding that she was also dancing along to the song.
A fan replied “We know queen!” with a video showing Halsey, in fact, dancing to Mendes’ hit.
Texting mixup aside, Halsey made headlines for rocking rainbow hair on the VMAs red carpet. The singer wore a sheer orange dress over black separates and a black corset.
“I’m always kind of naked and kind of classy,” she said of her outfit, which she later swapped for a separate show and afterparty look.
Many thought the rainbow look was a nod to the singer’s bisexuality, which she mentioned in a speech while accepting the GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Music Artist in 2018.
“I’m a young, bisexual woman, and I’ve spent a large part of my life trying to validate myself — to my friends, to my family, to myself — trying to prove that who I love and how I feel is not a phase; it’s not part of some confusion that’s going to change or could be manipulated,” she said.
Halsey recently stood up for Miley Cyrus, who identifies as pansexual, after a Twitter user came after Cyrus for her sexuality amid her split from Liam Hemsworth.
“#MileyCyrus splitting and allegedly cheating on Liam with a woman confirms that you shouldn’t date bi people,” read the tweet in question. “Not offensive, just true. Bi is greedy and never satisfied.”
Halsey clapped back on behalf of her fellow singer, writing, “Stop being afraid of women who aren’t afraid to do what pleases them and not other people :-).”