Discussing the criticism in a new TikTok, the musician also says that she’s developed ‘debilitating anxiety’ about being online, but is determined to keep talking about her ‘crazy ideas’
Back in September, Grimes debuted a new song, “Love”, on TikTok, writing that the track deals with “all the privacy invasion, bad press, online hate, and harassment by paparazzis” that she’d experienced that week, following the announcement of her separation from Elon Musk.
Since then, she’s been fairly quiet on social media, besides promoting her AI girl group, NPC, and briefly treating her fans to a new makeup tutorial. Now, however, she’s returned, sharing an explanation for why she became a “total hermit”.
In the November 28 TikTok — captioned “back on the internet #sigh” — Grimes says: “I’ve developed severe PTSD from public life, which maybe everyone can kinda relate to right now.” Unsurprisingly, however, not many people can relate to the actual details of Grimes’ life in the last few months.
“Cancellations aside, I’ve been dragged into literal geopolitical scandals,” she says, explaining that she’s been dealing with “depositions” and friends leaking her personal information. Elsewhere, she claims that stalkers showed up at her house with violent intentions, when she was pregnant with X AE A-XII.
Grimes also explains that she’s been going through a lot online, where she’s been “dragged into conspiracy theories about resource extraction”. These conspiracies, she appears to add in a caption, are “not necessarily unfounded”, though it’s unclear if they’re related to her ex-partner Elon Musk, who has previously been called out for alleged ecological damage.
She’s also “somehow ended up as a kind of Marie Antoinette-esque symbol for inequality in the pop stan community,” she continues. “Which frankly is fairly entertaining, and I’m not mad at that.” Proving that she’s not particularly concerned by the association, Grimes also dressed as Marie Antoinette (updated for 4200 AD, obviously) back in February this year, following her take on the historical figure in the music video for “Flesh Without Blood/Life in the Vivid Dream”.
“Long story short, I’ve developed debilitating anxiety about being online, which has been super annoying to my label, my team, and me,” she concludes in the new TikTok, quoting Dune: “Fear is the mind killer.”
Nevertheless, Grimes is now “back on the internet”, and wants to start speaking more about her “crazy ideas”, even though she knows that they “make people super upset sometimes” (see: that time she said artificial intelligence is “the fastest path to communism”).
Making the case for sharing her thoughts about the future of humanity, she says: “If it’s morally wrong to be ideating about radical utopia, then how are we ever going to get radical utopia? Because it’s not going to be from some existing form of government.”
“And if you think I’m too privileged to be thinking about these ideas, or speaking about these ideas, then I would love nothing more than for everybody else to join me out here and literally prove me wrong… That’s how we find a solution.”
If you were wondering what kind of debates Grimes is inviting us to join on social media, then you’re in luck. The Miss Anthropocene musician has already posted a follow-up video about one of her aforementioned “crazy ideas”, diving deeper into her previous statements about “radical wealth redistribution through gaming”.
Join that conversation here, and watch Grimes discuss her mental health and break from social media in her “back on the internet” video below.
@grimes #🧚🏻♀️ #🐉 back on the internet #sigh ♬ original sound - Grimes