“Not my queens beefing”: Netizens react as Lana Del Rey seemingly disses Ethel Cain in new song snippet

Lana Del Rey has stirred up speculation of a feud with fellow singer Ethel Cain after posting an Instagram clip of herself listening to an unreleased track that calls Cain out by name. As reported by Cosmopolitan, on August 13, 2025, the Born to Die singer shared the video from her car, singing:

“Ethel Cain hated my Instagram post / Think it’s cute reenacting my Chicago pose”

The lyric appears to reference 2022 photos involving both artists and musician Jack Donoghue of Salem, Lana’s ex-boyfriend. Lana had posted an image with Donoghue in front of a Chicago jail; later, Cain posted a similar shot, reportedly poking fun at it.

The snippet also includes the line, “The most famous girl at the Waffle House,” echoing the headline of Cain’s May 2022 New York Times profile.

Social media users were quick to notice the tension between the two and reacted on the same.

Lana Del Rey's explanation and allegations

In a now seemingly deleted comment under Pop Base’s coverage of the song on Instagram, Lana Del Rey alleged that Cain had body-shamed her in the past. As reported by Rolling Stone on August 14, 2025, Lana wrote:

“I didn’t know who Ethel was until a few years ago, when someone brought to my attention the disturbing and graphic side-by-side images she would often put up of me next to unflattering creatures and cartoon characters, making constant comments about my weight. I was confused.”

She added that hearing about Cain’s alleged private remarks from "mutual friends" and seeing her "insert herself" into her personal life left her "definitely disturbed."

A screenshot of Lana Del Rey's comment on the Pop Base post on Instagram (Image via Instagram/@popbase)

As per Billboard, shortly after the post, Cain revealed on Instagram Stories that Lana had blocked her.

Ethel Cain was once a Lana Del Rey fan

Ethel Cain, born Hayden Silas Anhedönia, was once an outspoken Lana fan. In 2015, she listed Lana Del Rey as one of her favorite artists on her DeviantArt profile. By 2017, she was posting covers online, including Born to Die. However, as her career developed, she reportedly grew uneasy with the constant comparisons.

As reported by Cosmopolitan, in a since-deleted 2022 tweet, Cain pushed back on a review likening her to Lana, calling such comparisons "lazy writing." She stated it reduced “the expansive work of two female artists” to a single point of reference.

In an interview with i-D in 2022, she stated:

"I called it lazy writing because it’s lazy for me and her. I think it’s kind of a detriment to the expansive work of two female artists to just reduce them to being similar to each other."

Jack Donoghue and Waffle House link

According to Variety, the Donoghue connection seems central to Lana’s latest lyrics. In 2022, Lana Del Rey publicly confirmed her relationship with him via a now-deleted photo outside Cook County Jail.

Cain, once close friends with Donoghue and rumored to have dated him after Lana, later posted her version of the shot with the caption:

"Ok wait my turn."

The "reenacting my Chicago pose" lyric appears to reference this exchange.

Ethel Cain’s 2022 New York Times profile famously described her as "the most famous girl at the Waffle House." In 2023, Lana Del Rey herself went viral for working a shift at an Alabama Waffle House, adding another layer of "shade" to the lyric’s inclusion.

Ethel Cain released her sophomore album, Willoughby Tucker, I’ll Always Love You, on Friday, August 15, 2025. Lana Del Rey, meanwhile, is preparing to release her 10th studio album later this year. She previously teased some country-inspired tracks during her Stagecoach Festival performance in April 2025.

As of publication, Cain’s representatives have not commented on Lana’s song snippet or allegations.

About the author

Devangee Halder is a Food and Pop culture writer at Sportskeeda. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Economics and a Master's Degree in International Studies. A bibliophile and foodie, her academic background, with the intersection of history and cultural studies, has deepened her love for reading and writing.

With over a year of experience, including an internship at Indian Express, which she landed through correspondence with editor Raj Kumar Jha, she transitioned into her current role at this company. As a journalist covering gastronomic trends and other news from the F&B Industry, she veers away from prescriptivism, and instead prioritizes questioning of current narratives, and forwarding relevant news, ensuring they are devoid of sensationalism.

Devangee approaches food with an interdisciplinary lens, locating it vis-à-vis areas such as culture, history, memory, and economics, within which culinary traditions found fruition and subsequently flourished. When not working, she enjoys cooking and reading, alongside her newfound interest in weightlifting. Among her favorite personalities are Sarah Todd and Vikas Khanna, and she admires the late chef Jock Zonfrillo for his work on indigenous food habits and ingredients.

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Edited by Sriparna Barui