Lorde reveals how 'anti-terror' cops shut down her NYC video shoot
The singer Lorde has described how her music video shoot in New York City was shut down by police.
The 28-year-old artist had her performance in April scuttled by 'anti-terrorism' NYPD officers over crowd concerns.
She detailed the shocking incident during an appearance on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert on Tuesday.
Promoting her album Virgin, which goes on sale today, Lorde explained in detail the series of events that led to the filming of her video for What Was That? in Washington Square Park being stopped due to an amassing of fans who wanted to be present for the shoot.
Colbert noted that 'such a mob showed up' in the famed park in Greenwich Village neighborhood of Lower Manhattan, 'That the cops shut it down.'
'Yeah, we had the antiterrorism unit being very intense, telling me if I stepped on the premises I would be arrested for riot incitement,' the Royals singer said.
The vocalist, whose real name is Ella Marija Lani Yelich-O'Connor, explained that she 'couldn't show up for many hours' as authorities sought to clear the area.
The singer said she was later cleared to return to the park and finish production on the clip - but she had to nail it in a single take.
'I came back later, they said, "You can go out, you have one shot at it,"' Lorde explained.
She continued: 'If people don't maybe know this, we were launching my first song for this album, but we were also shooting the music video, which would come out 24 hours later.'
She said 'there was an edit that had to be gotten to very quickly' and that 'a lot of dominoes had to fall right for this to work.'
In excerpts of the filming, Lorde was seen telling her fans they were 'so amazing' and that she loves them 'so much.'
The NYPD issued a statement to People explaining in detail the series of events surrounding the video shoot.
It read: 'On Tuesday, April 22, 2025, at approximately 18:47 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.
'A sound and parks permit is required to have a concert in a New York City Park. This individual did not possess either.
They noted that 'organizers of the event were informed they could not perform and they left the location.'
In the interview on Tuesday, Lorde explained the creative process as she prepares to release her fourth studio album, following 2013's Pure Heroine, 2017's Melodrama and 2021's Solar Power.
The singer, who is gearing up to tour in support of the album beginning this fall, said that an artist learns 'so much' in the creative process of putting together a record.
'Honestly, I think of the process of making an album is going out on a quest,' the Hammer vocalist said. 'It's this real journey - you pick up these questions along the way.
'You're trying to really get somewhere. For me, the album is sort of a byproduct of that process.'
She added: 'Like, I make the album because it's a period of so much discovery.'
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