HALSEY

54. PUTTING HERSELF OUT THERE

"When asked by Elle about the "idea of being an inconvenient woman," you opened up for the first time publicly about being diagnosed with bipolar disorder when you were a teenager. How was the reception from fans after that article came out? What did it feel like putting yourself out there?"

Halsey: "It was kind of crazy to me because I didn't really think of anything when I said it and then I walked out of the interview like, "Oh god, what did I just do?" I was really comfortable with that interviewer, and it was just the right time. Then the "Women in Music" article came out, and it was just a little blip, and I was like, "Oh, good. They're not going to do anything with it." And then they put out like a three-page exposé! It was so crazy because a 15-minute interview turned into an hour-and-a-half interview. I wasn't expecting it to mean anything. I figured everyone would either read it and be like, "Oh, interesting," but then kids started coming out of the woodwork saying, "This means so much to me." I was completely taken aback.

I think I'm slowly learning what my actions mean because I did the new "Ghost" video. I wasn't trying to make a political statement. I was trying to piss off my label. We were in a meeting for the video and someone talked about casting a guy. And my response was, "Why would you just assume that?" I kind of snapped. I'm that girl. I'm the devil's advocate all the time. So then just because they said that, I was like, "Let's do this instead." And I think that was kind of similar with the Elle article for me. I did something just because it felt right to me and didn't realize the impact it was going to have. But since the article came out, I've had a little bit of backlash. Some of the kids on the Internet are really fucking mean. There's kids who like X artists so they feel like they have to hate me. They'll say I'm lying or just trying to be interesting. And I wasn't trying to be. I was just being honest."