Pop Spotlight

Remember Cara Delevingne, of Taylor Swift #girlsquad and Ashley Benson sex swing-shopping fame? Over the past week, the model-turned-actress-question-mark, who is perhaps best known for her “Shane from The L Word”-esque reputation in Hollywood (she’s dated Benson and St. Vincent, among others, and has been tied to numerous other models and pop starlets), has made a resurgence on social media, and not at all for good reasons.

Following the Met Gala last week, a clip surfaced on social media of Delevingne dancing up a storm at an after-party with none other than Supreme Hottie Megan Thee Stallion. In the clip, Delevingne is seen grinding up on Megan and getting in her face, with Megan attempting to gently push her away. The video prompted comments from people on social media accusing Delevingne of making Megan uncomfortable and invading her personal space; Delevingne’s general chaotic behavior also sparked concern from fans about her mental state and partying habits.

In light of such discourse, it was surprising to see the two photographed again just a few days later, at the Billboard Music Awards last Sunday. On the red carpet, Delevingne is seen lurking behind Megan in the step-and-repeat, clowning around and playing with the cape of her dress for the benefit of photographers. Another video shows Delevingne at the event interjecting in a conversation between Doja Cat and Megan, with Doja apparently saying, “Oh, my God, hi, Cara Delevingne. I love you too. I love you guys together.”  (She was later photographed dramatically writhing on the floor of the ceremony.) 

https://twitter.com/popbase/status/1526006684035973120?s=21&t=GQ6merlc_UmKzDdvHTnuXA

https://twitter.com/PopCrave/status/1526020919424057344

Doja Cat’s comments, combined with the dance video from the Met Gala after-party and Delevingne’s frenetic, drunk-aunt energy around Megan at the Billboard Awards, have led many to speculate that Meg and Delevingne are possibly romantically involved (though Meg has been linked to rapper Pardison Fontaine for the last year). More to the point, Delevingne’s apparent obsession with Megan Thee Stallion and her body has led to allegations that she is fetishizing Black women, an accusation fueled by a recently unearthed clip of Delevingne jumping on stage during an Azealia Banks concert last year and pretending to lick her leg and whisper in her ear, to the apparent discomfort of Banks. 

“I’m sorry but I have to add Cara Delevingne to my list of blocked topics,” reads one tweet on Delevingne. “Not only is she putting Black women in awkward situations by behaving like this, but her behavior makes me feel uncomfortable as a Black woman. Like, is she incapable of treating Black women with respect?”

Though Meg hasn’t commented on her experience with Delevingne, Banks did come to the model’s defense on Twitter, offering her two-cents on her friend’s image and pointing out that they have a very “normal” friendship where they “dress up like mermaids, smoke spliffs and take naps.”

Cara doesn’t have an obsession with with black women. It’s that upper crust English society full of fake white and jealous white hoes who were never as charismatic as she is that made fake friendships, tried sabotaging her every which way she moved and the intense jealousy https://t.co/memoUrOzlf

— Azealia Banks (@Azealiaishere) May 20, 2022

On this week’s episode of Don’t Let This Flop, Rolling Stone‘s podcast about internet culture, co-hosts Brittany Spanos and Ej Dickson discuss Delvingne’s troubling behavior, as well as Lizzo’s TikTok takeover, Patti LuPone’s mask-related outburst, the weirdness of true crime TikTok, and the renaissance of Matthew Gray Gubler.

DLTF is released Wednesdays on all audio streaming platforms, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, Stitcher and more.