Lizzo Calls Out the Racist, Fatphobic Trolls Bullying Her in Wake of the ‘Rumors’ Video
Lizzo took to Instagram Live on Sunday, August 15, to address some of the negative comments online sparked by her new video “Rumors” with Cardi B.
“It’s fatphobic, it’s racist, and it’s hurtful,” she said of the trolling she’s gotten throughout her career. “What I won’t accept is y’all doing this to Black women over and over and over again, especially us big Black girls.”
She added, “When we don’t fit into the box that you want to put us in, you just unleash hatred onto us. It’s not cool. I’m doing this shit for the big Black women in the future who just want to live their lives without being scrutinized or put into boxes.”
Lizzo explained that her music and art is all about inclusivity and acceptance, which doesn’t negate her Blackness (or make her part of the “white gaze,” a conversation that sprang up on Twitter). “I make Black music, period,” she said. “I’m not serving anyone but myself. Everyone is invited to a Lizzo show, to a Lizzo song.”
Cardi B, who has a verse on “Rumors,” took to Twitter to back Lizzo up, writing, “When you stand up for yourself, they claim you’re problematic & sensitive. When you don’t they tear you apart until you crying like this. Whether you skinny, big, plastic, they going to always try to put their insecurities on you. Remember these are nerds looking at the popular table.”
She also defended the song’s chart performance, tweeting, “Rumors is doing great. Stop trying to say the song is flopping to dismiss a woman emotions on bullying or acting like they need sympathy. The song is top 10 on all platforms. Body shaming and callin her mammy is mean & racist as fuck.”
Chloe Bailey and Octavia Spencer both spoke out on Lizzo’s behalf as well:
As for Lizzo, it seems she’s staying positive. On Sunday afternoon (August 15) she tweeted, “Loving yourself in a world that don’t love u back takes an incredible amount of self awareness & a bullshit detector that can see through ass backwards societal standards… if u managed to love yourself today I’m proud of u. If u haven’t, I’m still proud of u. This shits hard.” She then shared a short video of herself laughing and revealing her stash of Grammys and other awards, writing, “Sometimes I get sad… and then I—”
How many of her haters have a trophy wall in their homes? None? Yeah, that’s what I thought.
