Lizzo is Being Toppled From Her Throne. She Should Have Never Had the Seat In the First Place

It was only after Lizzo chose to debase herself in the name of “empowerment” that she began to gain traction and attention

*I’m so thrilled to welcome my first guest contributor Jennifer Oliver O’Connell of RedState and the As the Girl Turns Substack. Enjoy!

Artist Lizzo, Watch Out For the Big Grrrls promo shot

The celebrity musician Lizzo introduced her first episode of her reality show, Lizzo’s Watch Out For The Big Grrrls with, “I’m that Bitch! 100 percent.”

That tells you all you need to know about her. Lizzo then proceeded to throw shade at fans who she felt approached her with judgment. She perceived their comments about her show energy as an indication they think she cannot do what she does. That is also all you need to know.

The YAWNING insecurity that appears to have guided Lizzo’s life, career, and every decision since she’s risen to the top has also been the source of her undoing. I do not write this from a mocking point of view or to kick someone when they are down. I have been Lizzo in so many ways when I was her age, from the weight issues to the raw talent that no one wished to recognize because all they saw was the body. While it was exemplary that she overcame and broke through with her musical talent, no matter how much she claims she has “made it,” she still leads with the weight issues and all that comes along with it that remains unaddressed.

Herein lies the root of Lizzo’s current issues and her present downfall. If Lizzo had presented herself fully (or at least modestly) dressed, singing and rapping about positivity, confidence, and empowerment, do you think anyone would have paid attention? I doubt it. She’d simply be singing into a void, like so many others who couldn’t be easily or conveniently packaged. The industry would have told her to go find a salad and a Stairmaster and move aside so they can pay attention to other flashy artists who have a schtick.

It was only after Lizzo chose to debase herself in the name of “empowerment” that she began to gain traction and attention, and it is that very debasement that now has her in the crosshairs.

“Lizzo” is the professional name of Melissa Viviane Jefferson, a Detroit native who rose to fame in 2016 with the release of her third album, Coconut Oil. Her focus on promoting the sexual underbelly was evident with hosting her album release party at a Hollywood strip club. In 2019, Lizzo fully hit the mainstream with Cuz I Love You, which coupled with her “F**k You,” attitude and body largesse.

Lizzo performs and often appears in skintight pantsuits with strategic cutouts or barely there appliques, while singing/rapping, twerking and performing other sexualized dance moves and playing the flute. The music industry was already lapping her up, now legacy media scooped her up and made her a symbol of body positivity, self-worth, and unbridled confidence. Time magazine named Lizzo “Entertainer of the Year,” because of this meteoric rise to fame as well as what they perceive is her contribution to music.

As meteoric as her rise has been, Lizzo’s plummet from the heights of success has been equally matched. On my “In My Orbit” Substack on August 8, I wrote about the Lizzo lawsuit and what it has produced in decimating the Body Positivity movement. I encourage you to read it in order to gain more context on the lawsuit and my feelings about it, including the plaintiffs. Where I focus in this guest column is on the tragedy of Lizzo being platformed and elevated for all the wrong things, and all the wrong reasons.

I hate the term “morbidly obese,” because it says nothing. As a fat person myself (according to that BMI chart), if you’re fat, you’re fat, and you know it. There is no need to add other qualifiers on top to make it seem worse. But if you look at Lizzo’s life—the branded version as well as what is out there publicly—beyond the weight, Lizzo is an incredibly disturbed individual. She has had some truly painful experiences that, from an outside view, she does not appear to have ever properly dealt with. What seems to have resulted from her handling of these issue is a very twisted view of God and Christianity, and an even more twisted view of one’s sexuality and one’s body.

In Episode 3 of Lizzo’s Watch Out For The Big Grrrls, Lizzo breaks down into tears as she is talking to the contestant dancers about her song, “Rumors” and tapping into who they truly are and their sexuality.

“I’ve had a lot of love, and I’ve had some hate. Because of the way that I look, and as an artist, that’s happened a lot. They don’t want big girls to be sexy, they don’t want us to be happy, and that’s why this show is so important to me, because… [breaks down into tears]. I’m sorry…. It’s hard to love yourself in a world that doesn’t love you back, you know what I mean? And I’ve been trying to do it so boldly, I put myself out there, and when you put yourself out there, you get attacked.”

Lizzo then goes on about how they are representing big girl sexuality and how it is going to inspire so many people and shut down haters. They tie this clip together with Lizzo on her Instagram reel complaining about hatred, racism, and fatphobia because she is criticized over the way she dresses.

“They don’t want to see a big bitch thrive,” Lizzo tells the dancers.

The responses to Lizzo may not be proper or beyond the pale, but her responses and conclusions do not reflect health, confidence, security, or stability. Yet, this is being rewarded by giving her voice through a reality show to “inspire” other big girls.

This “big girl” does not feel the inspiration.

Three of the dancers who have filed the lawsuit were a part of this reality show. As stated in my prior Substack article, one would think this moment would have been a red flag for them and given them pause. One of them admitted that she was having misgivings over certain things she was required to do as part of the vetting process. But, when you are desperate for the limelight, meaning, acceptance, and you think Lizzo embodies all those things for you, you’ll overlook quite a bit… Until you can’t.

The celebration of Lizzo, the lauding, applause, and being chosen as a symbol for a movement seems to have amplified these issues, and even made them worse. The fame, fortune, and power produced an incendiary mix. So, if anyone had been giving Lizzo’s life and career close scrutiny, these allegations from three of her former dancers would surprise no one.

Now it is being reported that six more people are coming forward saying they were also sexually harassed and shamed, and they may join in with the dancer’s lawsuit alleging a hostile work environment and discrimination.

An attorney for three dancers who performed with Lizzo said his firm was reviewing at least six additional complaints against the singer from people who toured with her or worked on her reality show, Lizzo’s Watch Out for the Big Grrrls. The Los Angeles-based employment lawyer, Ron Zambrano, told NBC News the new allegations were of a “sexually charged environment” and failure to pay employees.

Last week, Lizzo was hit with claims of sexual harassment, of creating a hostile work environment and of weight-shaming.

Lizzo’s streaming and social media numbers are also seeing diminishing returns as these allegations play out. Her carefully crafted reputation is like dominoes falling. Former Lizzo staff and creative personalities who were on the inside are taking to their own social media to express solidarity for the dancers and call the celebrity out on her patterns of bad behavior. An Oscar-nominated documentary filmmaker named Sophia Nahli Allison called Lizzo a “narcissistic bully” and placed the blame solely in her lap on why she quit Lizzo’s documentary project. Allison expressed this quite articulately in a social media post.

Lizzo’s former creative director Quinn Whitney Wilson, and former dancer Courtney Hollinquest also took to social media to affirm the dancer’s stories and applaud their bravery in filing a lawsuit against her.

Equally disturbing about Lizzo being platformed as a symbol is that she has been accused of plagiarism more than once. All the praise for Lizzo’s creativity and innovative lyrics may be based on her stealing from others.

In February 2018, British singer Mina Lioness accused Lizzo of plagiarism for the opening line of her chart-topping hit, “Truth Hurts.” The line says, “I just took a DNA test, turns out I’m 100 percent that bitch.”

Lioness claims she originally tweeted the line back in February 2017. Lizzo denied it and had some social back-and-forth with Lioness, but nothing was resolved until Lizzo was hit with another plagiarism accusation for the same song.

On October 15, 2019, songwriter and producer Justin Raisen posted a video on Instagram in which he claimed the opening line and melody of “Truth Hurts” was lifted from a song called “Healthy” that he and others wrote with Lizzo in 2017. In the post, Raisen attributed the provenance of the “100% that bitch” lyric to Mina Lioness’ tweet. Lizzo subsequently gave Mina a writing credit but hit Raisen and two other songwriters with a lawsuit, claiming they “expressly withdrew any claim to “Truth Hurts” in writing.”

Although much of the case was dismissed in 2020, the suit was eventually settled privately in March 2022, with legal representatives for both sides requesting “dismissal of the entire action”, according to Billboard.

On Tuesday, another domino tipped over: According to a source exclusive to The Daily Mail U.K. the NFL has dropped Lizzo from consideration for the Super Bowl Halftime Show because of the lawsuit.

“Talks of Lizzo being a part of the Halftime festivities, or performing the National Anthem, are dead now that she is surrounded by scandal,” the NFL insider source said.

This is the residue of rottenness from a person who should have never been given the promotion and praise accorded them, because they were not ready or equipped to handle it. Lizzo has been foisted on the public as not only the face of Body Positivity, but of unbridled sexuality, fake confidence, and Magical Thinking. Anyone confident in themselves does not need to force people to partner in their own debauchery, as the lawsuit alleges. Anyone who is truly comfortable in their own body has no need to shame others about theirs, and anyone who truly believes in themselves and that they deserve what they have achieved doesn’t need to do mantras and take others through the wringer in order to prove they are worthy.

Lizzo has appeared on television morning shows like Today, Good Morning America, and CBS This Morning, spouting about positivity and being held up to young girls as a role model to emulate. I do not have daughters, but if I did, Lizzo would not be who I would want my daughters gleaning from other than as a cautionary tale.

As much as Lizzo is complicit in her current situation, I train even more fire on the entertainment and music industries who coddle, enable, and platform this type of person and behavior. There are 10,000 Lizzo-types out there who are infinitely more talented, worked hard for what they have, but most importantly, have a moral center and a greater depth of character. When Lizzo reached her pinnacle, these industries and their complicit media pretty much glossed over anything she did because they didn’t want to destroy the symbol or disrupt the move of their own gravy trains in the process.

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