Halsey and Anthony Fantano are beefing

The needle may drop, but so does Halsey’s hammer. Anthony Fantano, known for his harsh musical critiques on the YouTube channel TheNeedleDrop, has found himself in hot water repeatedly with the fanbases of female artists for what they allege to be bias against music made by women. Fans brought up certain comments Fantano had made about women’s music after an interview he conducted with Olivia Rodrigo late last week, including ones about the singer Halsey’s work. In 2024, Fantano awarded Halsey’s album The Great Impersonator, a work focused on the singer’s chemotherapy treatment for a T-cell lymphoproliferative disorder and lupus, a “decent 1” out of 10. 

The artist responded to the recent online discourse about Fantano’s interactions with women artists yesterday with vigor. On Sunday night, X user @NotRealMusic wrote: “I didn’t really agree with how Fantano approached some aspects of his Halsey review but I can’t understand how there’s still discourse about it all this time later. It’s not like it’s some great album… how are people still hung up over it” alongside a crying emoji. Fantano himself responded, “if they’re more into the review than the album.” 

Halsey, at this point, could hold her tongue no longer, and quote-tweeted Fantano: “I’m certain my least memorable song will be remembered more fondly and for more time than anything you ever do with your life will be.” The singer continued, “Everything you say is more ‘whiny’ and ‘edgy’ than I was at any point on that album,” referring to specific critiques Fantano made. “But at least I had the excuse of going through chemo.” 

She went on to call Fantano a “pay for clicks reaction YouTuber” and a “raised-by-4chan edgelord bully.” She bemoaned the plight of “being a woman dealing with serious health issues” and the fears of being brushed aside or “seeming attention seeking,” claiming that Fantano had “validated that fear to thousands of women.” 

Fantano’s defenders have argued that he’s an equal-opportunity hater: Skrillex’s latest album got a 3/10 from him last week, while Rodrigo’s got an 8. Chris Brown’s disaster of a record BROWN, out last month, got only a “NOT GOOD,” so it could always be worse.

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