The backlash against smartglasses continues, and now singer Lorde, whose real name is Ella Yelich-O’Connor, has made sure she won’t be sponsored by Ray-Ban, Samsung, or any other brand making the tech anytime soon.
During a concert held as part of the Mad Cool Festival 2026 in Madrid, Spain, the singer made her feelings about smartglasses known, and it wasn’t very positive.
Fudge those fudging glasses
The moment was captured by various concert-goers and shared online, ensuring everyone would hear about Lorde’s opinion. She said:
Increasingly in our world it gets harder and harder to know what is real. You don’t know if someone is wearing sunglasses or if they’re wearing those f****d up f*****g… Can I just say, for the record, ‘F**k the Glasses.’ Don’t get the glasses. Not sexy.
While Lorde didn’t single out a particular brand or product, The Ray-Ban Meta smartglasses dominate the space, and the presence of a camera in the temple is the primary cause of its problems.
Lorde was less likely to be talking about non-camera smartglasses, such as the Even Realities Even G2, but to many, all smartglasses are the same and have the same issues.
Lorde’s outburst was likely not welcomed by the Mad Cool Festival, as Ray-Ban itself is one of the festival’s sponsors.
Also at the festival was Blackpink member Jennie, who was performing solo, and is a global ambassador for Ray-Ban and Ray-Ban Meta.
Meta recently released its own camera smart glasses without Ray-Ban — called simply Meta Glasses — and recruited Kylie Jenner to help shape one of the designs, known as the Starfire Kylie Edition.
Lorde recently became an investor in music app Lume, which competes with industry heavyweights like Spotify by operating a ‘buy once and own forever’ system. Like Lorde, Lume originates from New Zealand.
More to come
While Ray-Ban Meta has popularized smartglasses again over the past few years, the increasing amount of backlash is reminiscent of Google Glass, which launched more than a decade ago and eventually disappeared due to the social stigma around them.
Samsung and Google will release a pair of smartglasses later this year, in partnership with Warby Parker and Gentle Monster, with Gucci also waiting in the wings with its luxury smartglasses too.
Lorde’s sentiment is almost certainly shared by others, and the more high-profile individuals speak out, the harder it will become for authorities not to take legislative action against privacy concerns. In turn, the big tech brands will find it increasingly hard to find people willing to put cameras on their faces.
What started as a breakout year for smartglasses, is rapidly becoming Return of the Glasshole.
