Lizzo is opening up about online bullying.
During a new interview with Variety, Lizzo recalled the moment she teared up on Instagram Live after she read a hurtful comment that someone wrote about her appearance.
The “Good as Hell” singer noticed that the comment came in shortly after she released the official music video for her single “Rumors” ft. Cardi B in August 2021.
According to Variety, the whole thing was captured in Lizzo’s upcoming series, “Watch Out for the Big Grrrls,” which will premiere in March. And she says that her tearful moment was not supposed to be in the show at all.
“It was not planned,” Lizzo said. “That day, ‘Rumors’ had come out, and I saw something really awful about me. I never want to address the thing that broke me, because people will continue to use it.”
“It had nothing to do with the song. The song was very successful,” she continued. “It was something about me and who I am as an artist and what I represent. And it was very f—ing racist and very, very harmful.”
Lizzo noted that the comment “kind of pushed me to my limit.” After she read it, it was hard for her to regain her composure and act like everything was OK.
“I went to the set, and I was pretty sad. I was sitting in glam, and I was getting my makeup done. And I was crying. I was like, ‘Sorry, I got to go to the bathroom,” she recalled.
In the washroom, Lizzo went on Instagram Live to address both her haters and her fans.
“I started talking about it — say you don’t like my music, cool. Say you don’t like my video, cool. But when you talk about me and my character and who I am, I’m coming for your a—,” she said.
“I used to hold in my emotions so much it was like a ticking time bomb. I said what I had to say, and I honestly felt better. I got to walk into this room of women who looked like me and who would understand exactly what I’m going through,” Lizzo continued, “and I got to play the song and be in that moment with them.”
“It genuinely moved me to tears,” she added. “It was one of those things that happened in my life that was a blessing.”
Being famous has had its ups and its downs for Lizzo. The three-time Grammy winner noticed how much her life has changed after her third studio album, “Cuz I Love You” — which featured hits like “Juice” and “Soulmate” — started climbing the charts.
“Fame happens to you, and it’s more of an observation of you,” Lizzo said about stardom. “People become famous, and it’s like — my DNA didn’t change. Nothing changed about me. My anxiety didn’t go away. My depression didn’t go away.”
“The things that I love didn’t go away,” she continued. “I’m still myself. But the way y’all look at me and perceive me has changed. It’s a very weird, kind of formless thing.”
Lizzo noted that fame changed everything for her. Before people knew her name, she could go out and have a simple meal with her friends. But now that her music is popular, she would have to call ahead to the restaurant and have security with her at all times.
“I was like, ‘Damn. I’m just a burden to my friends, and things are different now,'” she said. “It bummed me out, because you do lose a sense of your privacy and yourself, the old self. I’m good with it now. I’m fine. I’m young. I’m talented. I deserve the attention.”
This story first appeared on TODAY.com. More from TODAY:
