Amid mask mandates, Black Lives Matter protests, and one mess of a presidential election, 2020 has shown many people’s true colors: the recently-engaged Lana Del Rey among them.
It really wasn’t that long ago when Miss Del Rey, our contralto patron saint of Americana fetishism, came under fire for dating Sean Larkin—an L.A. police officer who apparently has some clout in the cop world. Sighs of relief were uttered by reformed Tumblr girls everywhere when Larkin revealed that the pair had evidently broken up earlier in March.
Now, after sporting a massive diamond ring on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Lana is reportedly engaged to a singer named Clayton Johnson, whom she apparently met on a dating app—the method du jour since quarantine began. With his brothers Chantry and Connor, he used to post covers on YouTube, in which the trio would do renditions of songs like “Rude” by Magic! and “Sugar” by Maroon 5. You know, high bar stuff.
Magic! – Rude Cover (The Johnsons)
www.youtube.com
Scrolling through Johnson’s Instagram, he seems fine. He has a dog. He went to Italy once. He’s not a cop, which is an improvement—but it can’t detract from Lana’s messy year.
Even in the aftermath of her previous breakup, Lana simply has to continue Lana-ing. After years of being dubbed an “anti-feminist” and occasionally snapping at music critics, the singer posted a rather tone-deaf rant on Instagram back in May asserting that there “has to be a place in feminism for women who look and act like [her]” while conveniently refusing to call herself a feminist. Less than a month later, she came under fire for posting a dangerous video of people looting a store during Black Lives Matter protests; in September, her insufficient choice of face mask raised eyebrows.
Anyway, we’re happy for the couple. We wish them a long, healthy marriage filled with minimal social media scandals.