Did Lorde Just End Relationship With MUCH Older Boyfriend – Who Started Working With Her At 13?!

It sounds like Lorde may have split from her longtime boyfriend. But is that ultimately a good thing?? Because upon further investigation, we have some questions about this relationship…

OK, so starting with the news — Lorde posted a newsletter this week, titled “how I’ve been, revised” in which she said she was “living with heartbreak again.” The lengthy letter — which she admitted there was another version of in which she “didn’t tell the truth” — discussed physical health difficulties alongside pangs of loneliness, so it wasn’t exactly forthcoming, even if it was honest. She wrote:

“It’s different but the same. I ache all the time, I forget why and then remember. I’m not trying to hide from the pain, I understand now that pain isn’t something to hide from, that there’s actually great beauty in moving with it. But sometimes I’m sick of being with myself.”

She also mentioned she had quit taking a certain “pill” she’d been on for a dozen years:

“The little yellow pill I took every morning for thousands of mornings since I was 15, I stopped taking it 5 days ago. Gonna see how it goes.”

Overall she just sounded very anxiety-ridden, writing:

“I go online and look at everyone. Everyone looks very thin. Just thinking that makes me feel tired and far away. I’m not sure if it’s having an effect on anyone else.”

She said she had canceled her plans to attend Paris Fashion Week and would be traveling from London to New York soon, and then back “home” — which we assume means the suburbs of Auckland, New Zealand, where she was born and lived before all the fame.

Related: Demi Lovato Says She’s Finally Overcome ‘Daddy Issues’ After Dating ‘Gross’ Older Men

It’s rough to see the Yellow Flicker Beat singer so down in the dumps. But “heartbreak” is such a specific feeling, different from loneliness, that fans immediately seized on that to speculate things were finally over with her longtime boyfriend.

We haven’t paid much attention to Lorde’s love life, if we’re being honest. We recall being worried for her when, at 17, she was reportedly dating a 24-year-old photographer. And then there were the rumors she was dating Jack Antonoff, but we never really took those seriously.

Apparently all this time she was supposedly seeing a much, much older guy. There are a couple photos of them out together, but the relationship has been under the radar. And there may be a reason! It turns out the 26-year-old has been linked romantically to a music exec since like 2016 — one that’s 16 YEARS HER SENIOR!

That’s already iffy for some folks when you’re talking about 26 and 42. Just ask Chris Evans fans what they think of his new bride. But if they’ve been together for seven years, that means she was 19 and he was 35 when it started?! That’s definitely sketchier. She wasn’t half his age plus seven, we’ll tell you that much. But it gets worse.

This guy, Justin Warren, is the the American promotions director for Universal Music in New Zealand. According to The New Zealand Herald, he first met Lorde when she was initially signed to Universal. Back in 2009. When she was about 13 years old. Remember, she was signed as a musical phenom. And he was in a position of authority over her. And then they started dating??

Yeah, red flag on the play now, right??

For reference, this is Lorde in 2009 — with her school band…

The first time there were rumors the two were dating, Warren denied it. Apparently he was her plus one to the Vodafone New Zealand Music Awards in November 2015. The month she turned 19.

Then pics of them were published on a “date” by Woman’s Day magazine. He denied it was romantic, telling the Herald:

“Ella and I have worked together for years and we’re good friends. Any rumors of us being ‘a pair’ are ridiculous. Ella has a really busy year ahead of her and we’ll be spending more time together as plans for the next Lorde record unfold.”

But at some point it apparently became an open secret they were together we guess? Because she brought up “heartbreak” in this newsletter and suddenly every outlet is just casually mentioning they’ve been together all this time? In 2021 she was spotted wearing a diamond ring, sparking engagement rumors — and this was the guy people thought she was going to marry? And no one got icky vibes?

This is really upsetting if true. And as much aching as Lorde’s heart may be going through now, if the relationship she left was one with a music exec she’s been working with since she was 13 years old, it’s hard for us to see that as a bad thing.

What do YOU think, Perezcious readers? Did YOU know about Lorde’s rumored boyfriend? Does the age thing creep YOU out??

[Image via MEGA/WENN/Lorde/Instagram.]