Fans freak after Lorde posts bathtub photo with Whitney Houston lyrics

Andrea Mandell | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption Lorde apologizes for 'poorly chosen' Whitney Houston quote Lorde is apologizing for what she called an “extremely, extremely poorly chosen quote” in a now-deleted Instagram post.

Lorde is in hot water.

The 21-year-old New Zealand-born pop star drew ire on Thursday after posting a tone-deaf photo of a waiting bath, with the caption "And iiii will always love you" — a clear reference to Whitney Houston.

Houston died in 2012 when she accidentally drowned (a result of heart disease and longtime cocaine abuse) in a bathtub in Los Angeles. Her daughter, Bobbi Kristina, died in a similar manner three years later.

An hour later, the post was down and Lorde issued her apology in an Instagram Story.

"Extremely extremely poorly chosen quote," she wrote. "I'm so sorry for offending anyone — I hadn't even put this together I was just excited to take a bath. I'm an idiot. Love Whitney forever and ever. Sorry again."

Prior to her apology, fans had been in disbelief that Lorde would post the insensitive image.

"Whitney was a legend. she was amazing. she was a queen. she was a strong black woman. I like lorde but this is truly disgusting," tweeted @privsari.

"C'mon Lorde out of all the lyrics to use for your bathtime u use Whitney lyrics.... Like for why??" @HaSeulsPengPeng asked.

The same user added hopefully: "She must of not known... Yeah that's what it must be. cuz there is no way sweet Lorde would purposefully do that."

The fan wasn't alone in hoping it was simple mistake. "lorde is probably sitting in the tub not realizing what she just did," wrote @HUNTYCHAN.

After Lorde apologized, many came to her defense. "don't think there's anything sadder than lorde being excited to take a bath on her day off, just to have the entire internet come after her for a short period of time because she used the wrong quote for the wrong occasion," wrote user @blueflickerbeat.