Despite numerous memes out there suggesting otherwise, you can breathe easy knowing that no, New Zealand pop icon Lorde isn’t going to prison.
Let’s face it, the music world can be a wild beast at times. After all, considering the fact that we’ve seen the Foo Fighters onstage with John Travolta and Marilyn Manson selling dildos with his face on them, it feels like very little can surprise us these days.
However, if you’ve found yourself on Twitter recently, you might have come across the confusing hashtag trend that is #FreeLorde.
In case you’re wondering, no, this isn’t some Kiwi music giveaway (though ‘Free Lorde with purchase of equal or lesser Lorde’ has a ring to it), but rather a sarcastic response to a recent announcement from the New Zealand National Party in regards to school leavers.
So what’s going on? Well, earlier this month, the National Party revealed that they would look at fining the parents of young people who leave school early. If these former students don’t go into education or training, their parents could cop a bill of $3,000.
Despite Lorde having served up her Pure Heroine debut in 2013 while finishing Year 12, she did not return in 2014 for Year 13, the senior equivalent in New Zealand. With this in mind, fans realised that the National Party would have fined the singer’s parents the proposed $3,000.
Simon Bridges would’ve fined Lorde’s parents $3000 pic.twitter.com/scnMhUEMNI
— Reed Fleming (@reedfleming) October 3, 2019
Nobody:
Literally no one:
Lorde stans: #FreeLORDE pic.twitter.com/3W73kHYPUn
— STREAM EUPHORIA SOUNDTRACK BITCHES (@nervycat) October 8, 2019
lorde in the cop car being taken into jail #FreeLORDE pic.twitter.com/tRRRpTgxNJ
— What Would Blair Do? (@__theyarenotyou) October 8, 2019
lorde stans running to the jail where lorde is being kept #freeLORDE pic.twitter.com/YNRreG7TEe
— virgo rights #freeLORDE (@lordesjuul) October 9, 2019
Needless to say, fans quickly jumped on this ridiculous notion, ramping it up to the idea that the singer had been locked up for failing to finish high school, and therefore in need of saving from prison.
From fake Gofundme accounts, to calls for the New Zealand parliament to be stormed, fans have taken this revelation to heart, joking around to their heart’s content, and even posting pictures of Lorde doing everyday things such a riding a train now that the NZ government has confiscated her license.
Of course, Lorde isn’t the only notable Kiwi who would be affected by the proposed policy, with Newshub pointing out that the likes of Sonny Bill Williams, Parris Goebel, and even Paula Bennett, the deputy leader of the National Party.
While this is all in good fun, this might be a good time to remind Lorde fans of the time that it was discovered that the musician ran a secret Instagram account dedicated to reviewing onion rings. Before you ask, yes, many ‘Lorde Of The Rings’ jokes were made at the time.
Check out ‘Green Light’ by Lorde:
