Lizzo Breaks Down While Addressing Racism, Fatphobia & Comments That She Makes Music For White People
And Cardi B came to her defense
Kathy Hutchins / Shutterstock Following the release of her new music video for the song ‘Rumors’ featuring Cardi B, like all of her releases, Lizzo was hit with a wave of internet trolls and hateful comments.
Cardi B and fans jumped in to support and defend Lizzo against all of the undeserved hate that she received.
To address all of the backlash she was receiving, Lizzo went on Instagram Live and sounded off to her followers a teary, emotional talk.
Why is Lizzo receiving hate for her song 'Rumors' with Cardi B?
Lizzo received a flood of racist and fatphobic comments after the release of her recent song, reflecting a cruel side of her stardom.
Lizzo is accused of making music for white people.
Fans accused Lizzo of making whitewashed music which she says is actually a comment that Black female artists receive very often. In a Tik Tok she posted to address the racist comments she was getting, she referenced artists like her.
Aretha Franklin, Whitney Houston, Beyonce, among other famous Black female artists were all criticized — and a lot of those criticisms come from the Black community as well.
“Aretha Franklin was criticized by the Black church when she came out with 'Respect',” she said in the Tik Tok, “Whitney Houston was booed at the Soul Train Awards for being too white, Beyonce received criticism early in her career.”
She claims that these criticisms never really bothered her — choosing to address them in order to shed some light on the history of disrespect that Black female artists face from members of their own community among others.
“I'm not making music for white people. I'm not making music for anybody,” she said on Instagram Live, “I'm a Black woman making music. I make Black music, period. I'm not serving anyone by myself... Everyone's invited.”
She emphasizes how hard her and Cardi B worked together in order to make that song perfectly the way she wanted it, and how important it was to her and how special it was.
The song, staying true to the name, addresses the rumors that people make about them and all of the hate that they get, washing them away and empowering themselves and each other by claiming that everything they say is true if that’s what they want to believe.
She even bolsters her argument against people who say she makes music for white people by quoting the very beginning line of her song: “They don’t know I do it for the culture.”
Lizzo was labeled a 'mammy' by her haters.
Lizzo also addressed haters who called her a 'mammy' — a harmful, racist trope that takes it's name from a word used to describe Black women who's job it is to care for white children.
The term is rooted in fatphobia as it is rarely used to describe smaller sized women.
To further dive into the abuse that Black women get, Lizzo addressed the fatphobia Black women experience.
“What I won't accept is y'all doing this to Black women over and over and over again — especially us big Black girls."
"When we don't fit into the box you want to put us in, you just unleash hatred on us. It's not cool. I'm doing this s*** for the big Black women of the future who just want to live their lives without being scrutinized or put into boxes. I'm not going to do what y'all want me to do ever, so get used to it," she said
Lizzo has always been outspoken about how she’s going to continue to uplift herself and empower herself no matter what people say.
Cardi B and Lizzo's fans defended 'Rumors.'
Fortunately Lizzo has very supportive friends and fans that jumped to her defense and share their positive comments, starting with her collaborator Cardi B.
Cardi B chimed in on Twitter and slammed the people who were saying mean things to her friend Lizzo.
“When you stand up for yourself they claim your problematic & sensitive,” she said in her tweet, “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.”
Many of Lizzo's fans were also very moved by the song. Lizzo is an icon for body positivity when it comes to the way she shrugs off all the comments she receives and continues to flaunt the way she looks.
At the end of the 13-minute video, she assured fans that she was OK, and that she was just having “an honest moment.”
“I’m about to go back out here and be around people who love me and I’m going to be OK,” she said, “I just didn’t want to cry in front of the people who have been working so hard by my side. I want to go and be strong for them.”
Strong as she is, she shouldn't have to take this online hate, but she has a great support system surrounding her and she bounced back on her feet as strong as ever, and as strong as we know her to be.
Isaac Serna-Diez is a writer who focuses on entertainment and news, social justice and politics.