Do we like Benee?
Our score: 8 out of 10. No harmful words or company turned up, and she has put her platform and her money behind young artists and a youth charity.
Stella Bennett, a.k.a. Benee, is an Auckland singer-songwriter who went from bedroom pop to global TikTok hit when Supalonely, with Gus Dapperton, blew up in 2020. She was just 20 and suddenly had a debut album, Hey U X, and a worldwide audience to deal with.
The closest thing to a scandal on her file is a Wellington gig in 2020, when she called then National leader Judith Collins a rude word on stage and a clip went round TikTok. She admitted she shouldn't have used the word, but didn't back down on calling Collins a dirty politician. When a Newstalk ZB host questioned her manager, she hit back, saying she isn't a politician or a radio presenter and can say what she likes on stage. Crude, sure, but it's a pop star sledging a politician rather than punching down.
On the harm check, I went looking for anything she has said or done against LGBTQ+ people, women, migrants or the planet, and who she works with, and found nothing. No conspiracy theories, no culture-war grift, no dodgy collaborators in the coverage I read. In that same 2020 interview she was frustrated at being told her young fans were too young to vote, which reads as encouraging young people to vote. To be fair, the coverage is also quiet on whether she has spoken up on trans rights or climate, so this is a clean pass rather than a loud ally badge.
The recent chapter is the album. Ur an Angel I'm Just Particles came out in November 2025, built on four chapters she calls obsession, breakdown, chaos and ascent. She told Atwood Magazine it took far longer than she expected after her viral fame, and that she wanted the record to tell a cohesive story. A tour followed, with Laneway in early 2026 and a push for bigger venues, after she'd already sold out Auckland's Spark Arena.
The good stuff is real. In 2020 she launched her own label, Olive, with Muroki as the first signing, saying other musicians had helped her and she wanted to pass it on. In 2023 she teamed with the youth charity Youthline and AUT neuroscientists on a single called Bagels, designed to help calm anxious feelings, with all its streaming income going to the charity.
So, would we support her? Yes. She's a young artist who has used her break to help other young artists and a youth charity, with no harmful words or company on the record. The gaps are that she's not much of a political firebrand and there's thin coverage on some topics, so we'd love to hear her say more on LGBTQ+ rights and climate. Based on what's out there, she's a safe, kind fave.