The Popcast is hosted by Jon Caramanica, a pop music critic for The New York Times. It covers the latest in pop music criticism, trends and news.

Last week Rita Ora released a song called “Girls” featuring Cardi B, Bebe Rexha and Charli XCX. The song was positioned as Ms. Ora’s coming out as bisexual, and meant to be received as an empowering celebration. Shortly after its arrival, however, critics began speaking up loudly about the track’s lyrics, and artists who identify as queer posted messages on social media decrying how it “fuels the male gaze while marginalizing the idea of women loving women,” as Hayley Kiyoko wrote. Kehlani tweeted, “there. were. harmful. lyrics.” Ms. Ora issued a statement on Twitter to apologize to anyone hurt by the lyrics that read, “Girls was written to represent my truth and is an accurate account of a very real and honest experience in my life.”