Born Ashley Nicolette Frangipane, New Jersey
native, Halsey, dropped out of community college
when she was 19, and eventually met "a music
guy" at some party in a Holiday Inn.
As she tells Rolling Stone, this chance meeting
led to her record a song in someone's basement
and upload it to SoundCloud.
She claims five record labels contacted her
immediately, and the song was charting by
the next morning.
Halsey has since released the albums Badlands
and Hopeless Fountain Kingdom, collaborated
with Justin Bieber, and sold out massive arenas.
But this rags-to-riches story has its fair
share of baggage: Halsey has been open about
her struggles with bipolar disorder, her attempt
to take her own life, and a rather rough upbringing.
But with recent freak-outs on fans, and tears
over messy breakups, the drama is bubbling
up.
Here is the shady side of Halsey.
Easy target
Add Halsey's name to the list of artists who
have piled on rapper Iggy Azalea.
In a 2017 Guardian profile, Halsey said of
Azalea,
"She had a complete disregard for black culture.
F---ing moron.
I watched her career dissolve and it fascinated
me."
But Azalea chose the high road, telling Australian
podcast Smallzy's Surgery:
"It's a bit weird to bring someone up in an
interview that you weren't asked about."
The thing with the shampoo
In early 2018, Halsey vented her frustration
at the shampoos offered up by hotels, suggesting
that the products cater expressly to white
people.
She posted in since-deleted tweets,
“I’ve been traveling for years now, and
it’s been so frustrating that the hotel
toiletry industry entirely alienates people
of color.
I can’t use this perfumed watered down white
people shampoo.”
She also demanded more shampoo options in
mental wards, noting, according to New York
Daily News,
"I stayed in a psychiatric hospital as a teenager
and they didn't have hair products for any
patients who were [people of color]."
She went on to say being held in a psychiatric
institution is "hard enough" without having
to feel, quote, "ugly and dry n frizzy too."
​What was she doing on that yacht?
In January 2018, an image surfaced, featuring
Halsey on a yacht, and raising something to
her nose.
And everyone had their guess as to what it
was.
According to Metro, Halsey was unusually sheepish
when she appeared in public a week later.
Although the singer never made any official
statement about the photographs one way or
another, the image became a twisted meme.
Meanwhile, others criticized the meme-makers
for making light of substance abuse, saying,
"We've lost way too many amazing people to
drugs..."
​Media malfunction
The Daily Mail is seemingly obsessed with
catching Halsey in vulnerable positions.
In February 2018, they published "Halsey suffers
wardrobe malfunction after attendee steps
on her long black dress."
In August 2016, they posted "Whoops!
Halsey suffers wardrobe malfunction as she
skips underwear in strapless animal print
dress."
And in May 2017: "Halsey wows in see-through
black dress exposing her underwear."
But the singer was more than happy to call
out The Daily Mail, tweeting: "I had on an
entire pair of high cut black underwear under
the dress.
You can't slap a censor bar over black fabric
and make everyone think my p----y is out."
Did she burn The Chainsmokers?
On more than a few occasions, Halsey may have
shaded The Chainsmokers the DJ duo/production
team behind the 2016 hit "Closer," which features
Halsey on vocals.
In October 2016, both Chainsmokers Alex Pall
and Drew Taggart were under fire for quotes
they'd given Rolling Stone about Lady Gaga's
single "Perfect Illusion," particularly Pall's
conclusion that, quote, "it sucks."
Halsey then called Gaga an "icon" via Twitter,
which may have led Taggart to tweet to Halsey:
"F---- you bald bitch."
Fishily enough, Taggart claimed he'd been
hacked and the suspect tweet was deleted.
Teen Vogue then reported in September 2017
that Halsey performed "Closer" by herself
for the iHeartRadio Music Festival, even though
she usually performs the song with Taggart
and Pall.
Her introduction could be construed as a subtle
dig, since she boasted:
"I'm gonna skip to my part, ok?
'Cuz my part's the better part anyway."
