Halsey apologises for posting photo of her struggling with eating disorder without ‘sufficient trigger warning’

Singer says she had ‘positive intentions’

Halsey apologises for sharing photo of herself suffering from eating disorder without trigger warning (Getty Images for Saks Fifth Aven)

Halsey has apologised for sharing a photo of herself taken when she was suffering with an eating disorder without including a trigger warning.

On Monday, the singer was interacting with her Instagram followers through a trend that sees users post photos in response to prompts when she was asked to share a picture from her “lowest point”.

In response to the request, the 26-year-old shared a since-deleted selfie with the caption: “TW: ED, ask for help,” according to Just Jared.

While Halsey included the abbreviations TW, which stands for trigger warning, and ED, which means eating disorder, she later penned a lengthy apology on Twitter for sharing the photo without a “sufficient trigger warning”.

“TW: disordered eating. I am very sorry for posting a photo of myself depicting my struggle with ED without a sufficient trigger warning. I was very nervous to post it and didn’t think properly,” she wrote. “I had positive intentions. I would never want to harm someone who shares my struggle.”

In a follow-up tweet, the Be Kind singer said that she would be logging off of social media because “this has turned into something I am not emotionally equipped to handle for the time being”.

“I hope that’s okay,” she added alongside a heart emoji.

In response to the apology, many of Halsey’s fans shared supportive messages and thanked her for taking the time to address the incident.

“Take all the time you need. Thank you for apologising to the people who felt triggered and taking the post down. It was an honest mistake and I'm sorry people are being so hard on you,” one fan wrote.

Another said: “Thank you for always holding yourself accountable, and it’s always okay to take care of your mental health first. You deserve the world.”

This is not the first time Halsey, whose real name is Ashley Nicolette Frangipane, has opened up about prioritising her mental health. In 2019, the singer, who was diagnosed with bipolar disorder when she was a teenager, told Rolling Stone that she has been committed twice since becoming famous and that it has been her choice both times.

“I’ve been committed twice since [I became] Halsey, and no one’s known about it. But I’m not ashamed of talking about it now,” she said. “It’s been my choice. I’ve said to [my manager]: ‘Hey, I’m not going to do anything bad right now, but I’m getting to the point where I’m scared that I might, so I need to go figure this out.’

“It’s still happening in my body. I just know when to get in front of it.”

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