Lizzo Shares Her Insights on Navigating Cancel Culture in a Thoughtful New Essay
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Lizzo, the acclaimed artist known for her candidness, shared her insights on the phenomenon of being “canceled” in a recent essay published on Substack.
In her essay, released on December 1, Lizzo reflected on her experiences and argued that “everyone should get cancelled at least once.” She discussed the backlash she faced throughout her career, highlighting how these challenges compelled her to build resilience.
“My upbringing in the Pentecostal COGIC church in Detroit, Michigan, gave me a real sense of hell,” she stated. “If you disobeyed God, or were considered a ‘bad person,’ you were on a first-class flight to eternal damnation in a lake of fire.”
Guided by her strict religious background, Lizzo recounted striving to be a good person. However, in 2019, a Lakers game incident ignited public outrage when she wore pants that appeared to expose her buttocks. This event marked a turning point, leading to accusations and a torrent of negative memes and death threats.
“All those years of being a good person doesn’t matter to the internet,” she wrote. “The internet doesn’t care about what really happened to someone. It only cares about believing the hype.”
Lizzo listed several instances that led to her being canceled, such as promoting a “smoothie detox,” expressing vulnerability, and facing criticism over the use of a slur in a song titled “Grrrls.”
Reflecting on these experiences, she concluded, “F–k it,” emphasizing the inevitability of unintentionally hurting people’s feelings in today’s hypersensitive climate.
“The court of public opinion is always ready to be judge, jury, and executioner,” she continued, questioning the narrowing definition of what constitutes a “good person” amid rising conservative values.
This essay marks Lizzo’s second contribution to her Substack account, following an earlier piece discussing weight loss through her widely publicized health journey. The singer has been transparent about the impact of fame and online criticism on her mental health, celebrating a positive shift following the release of her mixtape, *My Face Hurts From Smiling*.
“I’m so confident, and I think the thing that I’m most confident in now is me, my vision, and my creativity,” she told *Billboard* in June. “I kind of lost trust in myself for a while, because when you get in the industry, there are a lot of people who think they’re the experts. I think when you’re seeing that glow, it’s that confidence that’s truly being proud of who I am and not hiding who I am in all the aspects of it.”
