Singer Lorde recently revealed she was threatened by anti-terrorism police in New York City after an impromptu music video shoot for her new song, “What Was That?”, drew a massive crowd.
The 28-year-old artist had planned to film in Washington Square Park and informed her fans via an Instagram Story. This announcement led to “such a mob [showing] up that the cops shut it down,” she explained during an appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.
Lorde recounted the intense confrontation: “We had the anti-terrorism unit being very intense, telling me if I stepped on the premises I would be arrested for riot incitement.”
Despite the initial shutdown, Lorde eventually returned to the park to shoot the video, albeit under strict conditions. “I came back later, they said, ‘You can go out, you have one shot at it,’” she said. She highlighted the urgency of the situation, noting, “we were launching my first song for this album, but we were also shooting the music video, which would come out 24 hours later. So there was an edit that had to be gotten to very quickly. A lot of dominoes had to fall right for this to work. The NYPD was definitely a spanner.”
When approached for comment by PEOPLE magazine, the New York Police Department (NYPD) provided their perspective. “On Tuesday, April 22, 2025, at approximately 1847 hours in the vicinity of Washington Square Park, in the confines of the 6th Precinct, officers were alerted of an unscheduled event inside of the park,” the NYPD stated. They clarified the legal requirement: “A sound and parks permit is required to have a concert in a New York City Park. This individual did not possess either. Organizers of the event were informed they could not perform and they left the location.”
