Do we like Zara Larsson?
Our score: 8 out of 10. Consistent public support for queer people, women and migrants, at a real cost to her, with only a few online spats and a risky joke to mark her down.
Zara Larsson is the Swedish pop star behind 'Lush Life' and, lately, 'Midnight Sun'. She has a long record of speaking out on women's rights and immigrants' rights. In her documentary 'Up Close' she said she “got pulled off of shows” for doing it, per Euronews.
On the queer question she's on the right side, in her own words. In 2024 she said she's an ally: “I've always been, and I will always be.” She's performed with the rainbow flag, has appeared on RuPaul's Drag Race, and Euronews put her on a June 2026 list of European stars backing LGBTQIA+ rights.
The latest stoush is with the White House. It first used her track 'Lush Life' in a Trump dancing video, and she answered on Instagram with “I fucking hate ICE.” In September it set 'Midnight Sun' to deportation footage, and she told her TikTok followers it was “so dehumanizing” and that the people in it are real. She ended by calling the posters “losers”.
The spiciest moment came in March. She replied to a fan's TikTok about an abortion with a cheeky line about the fan 'killing it', and anti-abortion groups and commentators called it demonic, per Fox News. Her team didn't respond to Fox. She later told The Guardian it cost her a $3 million brand deal, a claim IBTimes says hasn't been independently confirmed. Where you land depends on how you read the joke, but it's a joke about a personal choice, not a campaign against anyone.
Her only real company quibble is small. Sexyy Red joined her onstage at the Greek Theatre on 29 September, and some X users dug up the rapper's old praise for Trump. By late 2024 Sexyy Red said she'd voted for Kamala Harris, and IBTimes reports no response from Larsson. It's one guest spot, not a pattern.
On the good stuff, Euronews notes she partnered with a contraception brand in 2018 to help end AIDS. The record is otherwise a pop star who gets into spats online and says what she thinks. We found no court cases or decided allegations against her in the sources we checked, so that's honestly the whole list.