After pictures of her reading "The Communist Manifesto" by Karl Marx emerged in the media over the weekend, Grimes took to social media to shed light on what she says was a trick played by her on the paparazzi to prompt "the most onion-ish possible headline".
"[P]aparazzi 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", the singer tweeted.
She also shared screenshots of a report in the New York Post with the headline "Grimes seen reading Karl Marx following split with world's richest man Elon Musk", leaving it to her followers to decide how "onion-ish" the title turned out to be.
The opinions ended up being divided, with some netizens applauding Grimes for her witty idea, and others either sarcastically wondering whether she had managed to get through the book, or slamming her for "promoting" communism.
Some users wondered how she happened to have a Karl Marx tome with her right when she was being followed by the paparazzi.
But Grimes wrote a separate tweet explaining that she had borrowed the book from a friend and that the idea came to her very quickly.
"This whole thing is so funny I think my publicist is stressed, I should probably stop impulsively doing controversial things, my friend just had the book and the photogs were outside. I’ll prob regret this later", she tweeted.
She and billionaire Elon Musk - who is among the richest people on Earth - parted ways earlier in September, noting, however, that they remain "on great terms" and "still love each other" as they co-parent their son X Æ A-12.