Few artists have had their bodies discussed as relentlessly as Lana Del Rey, and few have said less about it. Between 2019 and 2023 she gained weight in full public view, was mocked for it with a cruelty that became its own news story, and then, from 2024 onward, appeared noticeably slimmer. She has not explained either change. This article lays out what is actually on the record, and why almost every number you will find elsewhere is invented.
2018 to 2020: when it started
Lana’s figure had been commented on before, but the first sustained wave came after the January 2020 Grammy Awards, where she appeared in a silver dress bought from a mall and was photographed with her then-boyfriend Sean Larkin. The dress became the story, then her waistline did. Two years earlier, in 2018, holiday photos from Portofino had briefly produced pregnancy rumors; she was not pregnant.
2020 to 2021: the pandemic years
Through 2020 and 2021 Lana was largely at home, released two albums, got engaged to musician Clayton Johnson and then ended the engagement. In September 2021 she deleted her Instagram and Twitter accounts, saying she wanted to keep her private life private. Paparazzi photographs from 2021 and 2022 showed her heavier than in the Born to Die era, and tabloids ran them with the usual adjectives. She said nothing.
March 2023: “worse than 9/11”
The breaking point came in March 2023, when Lana was photographed out with friends looking relaxed and happy. One widely shared post called her weight gain “worse than 9/11.” The line was so grotesque that it reversed the conversation: within a day, fans flooded social media with #WeLoveYouLana and #StopBodyShaming, and mainstream outlets covered the backlash rather than her body. That same week her album Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd debuted at number 3 in the United States.
Lana did not respond to the post. She has never responded to any of it directly.
April 2024: Coachella and the Ozempic chatter
When Lana headlined Coachella in April 2024, she looked slimmer than the year before, and the commentary flipped overnight from mocking her weight gain to speculating that she had used Ozempic. There is no evidence for that. She has not said it, no credible outlet has reported it, and the only “quotes” attributing weight-loss methods to her come from spam pages planted on hacked university blogs, the same pages that invent a “50-pound” figure and a “170 to 120” before-and-after. None of it is real.
2025 and 2026: married, touring, slimmer, silent
In September 2024 Lana married Jeremy Dufrene, a swamp-tour guide from Louisiana. In summer 2025 she played stadiums in the UK and Ireland, including Wembley, and photos from the tour and from her honeymoon showed her visibly slimmer than in 2023. In September 2026 she and Dufrene marked two years of marriage. Across all of it, her position on her own body has been the same: she does not discuss it, and she does not owe anyone an explanation.
What is actually known
Strip out the invented numbers and the story is short. A woman in her late thirties gained weight over a period that included a pandemic, a cancelled engagement and leaving social media, and then lost some of it over a period that included a marriage and a stadium tour. She has not said why in either direction. What the episode documented instead was the audience: a crowd that found a singer’s waistline more interesting than her music, and then, when it looked different, found it interesting again.
Other articles here cover similar stories with different responses: Lena Dunham, who answered the comments at length, and Vanessa Bryant, who like Lana said nothing. For her relationship history, see Lana Del Rey’s dating history.
FAQ
How much weight did Lana Del Rey gain or lose?
She has never said, and no credible source has reported a figure. The numbers online are fabricated.
Did Lana Del Rey use Ozempic?
There is no evidence. The speculation started with Coachella 2024 photos and has never been supported by a statement or a report.
Has Lana Del Rey responded to body-shaming?
Not directly. The March 2023 pile-on was answered by her fans, not by her.
Why does she not comment?
She has said she wants her private life private; she deleted her social media in 2021 for that reason.
