Lorde says relationship with Taylor Swift is like having a sick friend

Brendan WalterWhile it is pretty sick that Lorde and Taylor Swift are BFFs, Lorde says actually being friends with Taylor is like having a pal who is sick — physically.

Speaking to the U.K. paper The Guardian, Lorde says maintaining a friendship with Taylor is difficult because she’s so famous that it’s hard for them to go out together in public. “It’s like having a friend with very specific allergies. There are certain places you can’t go together. Certain things you can’t do,” she explains.

“There are these different sets of considerations within the friendship,” she adds. “It’s like having a friend with an autoimmune disease.”

But if it’s so hard to be friendly with famous people, why does Lorde seem to have so many well-known friends? It’s about practicality, she explains.

“It’s an element of wanting to stick together. Because it can be so scary to do this,” she says. “These friendships, they’re about having a hand put on your shoulder by someone who knows. They’re about hearing, ‘I’ve done it, too.’”

Some fans have taken Lorde to task for her “autoimmune disease” comment, especially those who suffer from such diseases. While they understand the analogy, they feel it was in poor taste.