Image – Shutterstock: Zara Larsson performing in Madrid, Spain
Swedish pop star Zara Larsson has said she lost a $3 million brand deal after joking about abortion on social media, insisting she has no regrets about the exchange that sparked widespread backlash.
The controversy began when a fan posted a TikTok video from one of Larsson’s concerts, writing: “I didn’t know I was pregnant here but at least my baby got to hear midnight sun before I aborted it.” Larsson replied: “I killed the performance and then you killed it after the performance purrrrrr.”
Speaking to The Guardian, Larsson revealed the professional consequences of the moment. “I lost $3M, which is the biggest brand deal I’d been offered in my life,” she said.
Despite the financial loss, she appeared dismissive of the fallout. “I was genuinely like: Okay, losers!”
Larsson has repeatedly defended the comment, maintaining that humour has a place even in discussions about abortion. In a previous response, she said: “Sorry, that’s funny. Like, I don’t know what to say. That’s funny. Sorry if you don’t have humor.”
She also indicated she has little interest in engaging with critics, adding: “I’m not really here to argue with the people who are very against abortions for whatever reason because we’re so fundamentally different in the way we view the world, at least on this topic.”
Addressing the broader reaction, Larsson questioned why abortion is often treated as a subject that must be approached with seriousness and distress.
“I just want to know why that is,” she said. “Why do you feel like abortion is only okay when it’s a very hard decision, when it’s something that women have to struggle with going through, when it’s emotionally or physically painful. Why does that make it morally superior than someone just wanting an abortion for whatever reason? Why is it only morally okay when women have to suffer?”
She further argued that joking about abortion could help normalise the topic and reduce stigma. “I feel like joking about stuff like that, a ‘serious topic,’ it also makes it something that we can just talk about. It doesn’t have to be taboo. It doesn’t have to be this bad thing that women do.”
Larsson also said she believes efforts should be made to “prevent” abortion through measures such as sex education and access to contraception.
Responding to this story, SPUC’s Executive Director, Michael Robinson, says, “I’m pleased that Zara Larsson, though defiant, has had to suffer this great financial loss as a result of her callous comments about abortion. She epitomises a media culture that has devalued life in the womb so much that they believe the world’s biggest killer is something to mock and joke about. She may have lost the money, but that pales in comparison to the loss of life from abortion.”
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