Lizzo has responded to Kanye West’s comment on her body during her show.
The scene unfolded on Friday at Toronto’s Scotiabank Arena.
But it’s not just her brilliant music that has garnered Lizzo such a legion of fans.
There’s so much more to the star…
For one thing, she’s totally unique.
Which other plus-size, dance-trained, hip-hop artist plays the flute in almost all of her songs?
Truly, Lizzo is one of a kind.
But what’s even more important than her talent?
It’s gotta be Lizzo’s incredible message. Her lyrics are all designed to inspire self-love and confidence — particularly in young women. In a world of problematic messages, she’s a real force for good.
Lizzo has dominated the stage for several years now.
Gaining some pretty high-profile fans along the way.
At the BET Awards back in 2019, there was one audience member who was truly losing her mind over Lizzo’s performance…
Rihanna.
And at the MTV Video Music Awards that same year, Lizzo made even more famous fans.
At the VMAs, the audience was pretty much all going wild for Lizzo — including Queen Latifah.
And late in 2019, Lizzo was cemented as a true icon.
The star was named TIME’s Entertainer of the Year. She was recognized for her trailblazing message of body positivity, advocacy for self-love, and her “relentlessly positive and impossibly catchy” sound.
It’s a truly impressive achievement.
“Attending a Lizzo concert feels like worshipping at the church of self-love, if your preacher was a pop star living joyfully in a big black body, delivering a sermon of self-acceptance that’s as frank as it is accessible,” author, Samantha Irby, wrote for TIME magazine.
Lizzo opened up to the magazine about being an advocate for body positivity:
“I’ve been doing positive music for a long-a** time. Then the culture changed.”
“There were a lot of things that weren’t popular but existed, like body positivity, which at first was a form of protest for fat bodies and black women and has now become a trendy, commercialized thing.”
“Now I’ve seen it reach the mainstream. Suddenly I’m mainstream! How could we have guessed something like this would happen when we’ve never seen anything like this before?” the songstress told TIME.
And even now, the world’s love for Lizzo continues to grow with her success.
2020 saw her nominated for eleven awards at the Billboard Music Awards and she won one for Top Song Sales Artist.
The same year, she also performed a sold-out show at the Sydney Opera House…
The same place she had previously performed as a young flute player.
But it seems life isn’t all positivity for Lizzo.
As the singer has revealed the struggles she has faced in her pas …
In an interview with Rolling Stone, she revealed she had even been temporarily homeless.
After dropping out of college, Lizzo lived in her car while struggling to break through as a rapper.
She struggled with her self-esteem and was deeply unhappy.
But when she moved to Minneapolis and broke through onto the local music scene, things seriously began to pick up for the star…
And now, her fortune is impressive!
It’s estimated that she’s earned $16.5 million from music sales, plus an extra $8.8 million from her extensive tours.
But that’s not all…
She’s had brand deals with many big companies, including Dove, Urban Decay, Absolut Vodka, Google Pixel 6, Logitech, and Quay, which helped line her pockets further!
And on top of this, there’s Yitty.
Yitty is Lizzo’s shapewear brand with Fabletics, which is reportedly a huge financial success!
Plus, there’s Watch Out for the Big Grrrls.
Lizzo’s reality show airs on Amazon Prime, and even won an Emmy!
And how is Lizzo celebrating all of this success?
Well, she’s invested in an incredible $26 million mansion.
Lizzo never fails to put on a show…
But her latest move has led to many slamming the singer…
During a recent show, she surprised her audience by getting out the 200-year-old flute and playing it.
The flute was made in 1813 and used to belong to James Madison, the fourth president of the United States. TMZ reports that Lizzo was quite nervous about holding the flute in her hands, never mind playing it.
“B****, I’m scared,” she said to the crowd.
After playing her first note with the ancient flute, the crowd uproared.
After the show, Lizzo shared her thoughts online about the moment she had with Madison’s flute.
She stated that she was the “first and only person” to play the flute.
Lizzo added: “I will never be over it.”
Prior to the show, Lizzo got an invite from Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden to visit the largest flute collection in the world while she was in town.
The singer took her up on it, and said: “I’M PLAYIN THAT CRYSTAL FLUTE!!!”
The excitement, however, was cut short.
Despite the singer feeling overwhelmed with joy after playing Madison’s flute…
People have slammed her for being allowed to play such a delicate instrument.
Several people, including ultra-conservative commentator Ben Shapiro, expressed their displeasure at the situation.
Shapiro wrote: “This Lizzo-flute controversy is a perfect example of what I have termed Face Tattoo Phenomenon™: the phenomenon whereby someone does something deliberately controversial in an attempt to draw attention, and then acts offended when you notice.”
Another user tweeted: “The Library of Congress really took out a 200-year-old flute that belonged to James Madison just so Lizzo could twerk with it.
“They degrade our history and then call you racist if you actually value it.”
Despite getting slammed for using the 200-year-old flute…
Lizzo’s fans came to her aid and defended her.
“If you wouldn’t have a problem with Taylor Swift playing Ben Franklin’s piano, you shouldn’t have a problem with Lizzo playing James Madison’s flute. If you do have a problem, stop and think about why that is,” one person wrote.
While a second added: “Fabulous superstar singer Lizzo is living rent-free in the empty minds of racists today for masterfully playing a 200-year-old crystal flute they never even knew existed until she played it. Must be exhausting to live with such hate day in and day out.”
Sunny Hostin, a host on US talkshow The View, also shared her support for Lizzo after playing Madison’s flute.
“You have some people on the right who said that the Library of Congress really took out its 200-year-old flute that belonged to James Madison just so Lizzo could twerk with it [and that would] degrade our history,” she said.
“James Madison owned 100 slaves — that’s a degradation of history. It’s a full-circle moment for American history.
“This is the promise of America: You have a slave’s ancestor playing the 200-year-old flute,” Hostin added.
And now, the singer has been slammed again…
This time by a comment made by Kanye West.
It all started when Kanye was interviewed by Tucker Carlson and took a jibe at Lizzo’s weight.
However, during Lizzo’s show in Toronto on Friday, she responded to Kanye’s comment implicitly.
She said: “I feel like everybody in America got my motherf****** name in their motherf****** mouth for no motherf****** reason.”
Lizzo continued: “I’m minding my fat Black beautiful business,” before cracking a joke about moving to Canada.
“Can I stay here in Canada? Who can I marry for that dual citizenship?” she said.
She also continued to get her point across about her body by posting a picture of herself on Instagram, with the words “My body, my choice” illuminated in the picture.
What do you think?