Lana Del Rey Addresses the Sentencing of Her Stalker

Michael Shawn Hunt, the 43-year-old man convicted of stalking Lana Del Rey earlier this year, has been sentenced to one year in prison. The singer addressed the conviction on her social accounts Friday, as well as Hunt’s attempt to bring a knife into her Orlando concert in February. Hunt pleaded no contest to the stalking charge, which was part of the plea deal he was granted.

Lana posted a screenshot of a news report on Hunt’s arrest with the comment, “Alsoooo…If you bring weapons to the show with plans to use them and ur posting about it -the police will probably know about it before I do like they did in Orlando.” 

After she posted the same image on Twitter, she commented, “I’m just saying bringing weapons into the mix is on another level.” 

Hunt’s arrest in February came after the police were notified of incriminating statements Hunt had been posting on social media related to Del Rey. The day after her concert in Orlando, Lana told a crowd in Atlanta a brief account of the emotional backlash the incident provoked. “I am actually just feeling a little more emotional than I thought after what happened in Orlando, but I just really wanted to be here with you guys tonight,” she explained.

During the court hearing, Hunt’s Facebook’s posts were read aloud, all of which elicited an obsessive, delusional tone. One of the statuses read, “Our queen forever in both worlds I love you so much Lana I can’t wait to be back in your arms in a few days, baby I hear you singing, I miss you baby, I miss you so much Lana.” Another post alluded to a possible plan to kidnap the singer, “Lana and I will be together, I will likely be going on the rest of her tour with her.” 

This isn’t the first time Del Rey has had to bear the fear and intimidation of stalkers. In 2016, a man was sentenced to nearly three months in prison for breaking into her home, and in that same year, Del Rey filed a restraining order against two Russian fans who allegedly threatened her.