Grimes explains bizarre paparazzi photos after Elon Musk split

These truly weird photos of singer Grimes fresh from her split with Elon Musk have the internet buzzing – now she’s revealed what’s going on.

Singer Grimes has explained herself after bizarre paparazzi photos of her circulated widely online over the weekend.

The strange photos show Grimes, who recently split from world’s richest man Elon Musk, walking through downtown Los Angeles in a wild costume and reading Karl Marx’s anti-capitalist Communist Manifesto.

She’s, like, so into communism right now. Picture: Jvshvisions / BACKGRID

The singer recently split from world’s richest man Elon Musk. Picture: Jvshvisions / BACKGRID

The pics were Grimes’ first public appearance since the split, and earned the eccentric singer a lot of teasing on social media:

getting tired of Grimes as a concept

— atrophy wife 🎀 (@zuza_real) October 3, 2021

Nobody:

Grimes pretending to read the communist manifesto: https://t.co/PZE1wmYvaYpic.twitter.com/Qd8Q1fnzIK

— Saint Hoax (@SaintHoax) October 3, 2021

grimes is ending gender roles by giving off such strong divorced guy energy

— eski (@eskification) October 3, 2021

We're all going to understand that Grimes reading Marx in public is completely performative, right?

— ABNORMALLY SPOOKY VÆŽX (@vexwerewolf) October 3, 2021

grimes reading karl marx pic.twitter.com/EK3rC1qclV

— a (@outsideofu) October 2, 2021

But according to Grimes, who shares a son named son X Æ A-Xii with Tesla and SpaceX founder Musk, she’s in on the joke.

Grimes said she was pranking the media with these pics. Picture: Jvshvisions / BACKGRID

Grimes claimed she was aiming for an ‘Onion headline.’ Picture: Jvshvisions / BACKGRID

“Paparazzi followed me 2 a shoot so I tried 2 think what I could do that would yield the most onion-ish possible headline and it worked haha,” she tweeted, alongside a screenshot of a New York Post article headlined, ‘Grimes seen reading Karl Marx following split with world’s richest man Elon Musk.’

In a later tweet, Grimes appeared to acknowledge the ribbing she’d received for the staged photo shoot, writing: “Taught myself to stop checking if other ppl think I’m socially acceptable a long time ago. Worrying about being cringe is the enemy of art, failure tolerance is essential for creativity. Deciding not to be mad at ppl enjoying life is OK.”

Elon Musk and Grimes at the 2018 Met Gala. Picture: AFP

$200 billion dollar man Musk confirmed he and Grimes had split in an interview with the New York Post last month.

“We are semi-separated but still love each other, see each other frequently and are on great terms,” he told the outlet.

“It’s mostly that my work at SpaceX and Tesla requires me to be primarily in Texas or travelling overseas and her work is primarily in LA. She’s staying with me now and Baby X is in the adjacent room.”

And in a tongue-in-cheek email to the same outlet, Grimes explained how she and her inventor ex were dividing their assets: “I’ll be colonising (one of Jupiter’s moons) Europa separately from Elon for the lesbian space commune.”