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Singer Lizzo at an awards ceremony in March 2021
Photo: Kevin Mazur / Getty Images for The Recording Academy
Pop star Lizzo stands like no other for a positive attitude towards one's own body - even and especially when it does not correspond to the social norm.
But the online comments on her latest music video apparently hurt the confident singer deeply.
In an Instagram video, the 33-year-old burst into tears and denounced the "racist" and "fat phobic" statements.
A few days ago the music video for Lizzo's latest song "Rumors" came out.
Together with her colleague Cardi B, she sings about her experience with bullying and hate speech.
Some people would "spend all of their time destroying a woman," it says.
"If you think I'm pathetic because my buttocks can be seen, wait until summer when they let me out of the house." She works in a skin-tight gold suit.
As always, comments from their opponents were not long in coming.
Some posted spitting emojis, others commented on Lizzo's weight or called her "Mammy" - in the US a derogatory term for the stereotype of a black nanny.
Emotional video
In the direct messages to the singer, it was apparently even worse: On Monday, Lizzo posted a live Instagram video in which she told of the hateful letters.
"It doesn't matter how much positive energy you send out into the world, there will always be people who say something mean about you." The messages she received were "fat phobic" and "racist".
While such insults are nothing new to Lizzo, they apparently got close to her this time around.
In the video, tears run down the singer's face.
"Most of the time I don't care," she says.
"But I think when I work a lot, my tolerance decreases, my patience decreases, I become more sensitive, and then something like that hits me."
People would say things about them that wouldn't even make sense.
»If you don't like my music: cool.
If you don't like the song ›Rumors‹: cool.
But the only reason a lot of people don't like me is because I look the way I look, ”she said, and asked that people stop focusing on how I looked.
A message that Lizzo has pursued for years: In her art, on social media and in interviews, the singer constantly speaks about the importance of people no longer being discriminated against because of their appearance.
In particular, she tries to empower black overweight women.
Support from other stars
After all, Lizzo's grief did not go unanswered, but received a lot of solidarity. Cardi B joined the discussion on Twitter and defended both the song and her colleague. “'Rumors' is going great. Stop saying the song flopped just to dismiss a woman's feelings about bullying. […] Bodyshaming and calling her Mammy is mean and incredibly racist, ”she wrote.
The moderator Jameela Jamil also came to Lizzo's aid with a long thread. In it she wrote, among other things: »Lizzo publishes a song about people who use their energy to devalue women. Twitter explodes with insults. [...] Then she cries on Instagram while she talks about how destructive this kind of culture is - and gets ridiculed for it. «If you don't like a song, you shouldn't hear it. If you don't like a person, simply ignore them. “Stop telling the world that you have no life and no humanity by attacking others in such personal ways. Not everything is designed for you, ”she concluded.
Rapper Missy Elliott showed her appreciation for Lizzo offline: with a big show of flowers that Lizzo showed in her Instagram stories.
A corresponding card read: “Every few decades someone breaks out of the prefabricated shape.
You are one of those people.
Keep shining and be blessed on your way. "
The encouragement was apparently successful: just a few hours later, Lizzo posted a gif that shows her laughing again.
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