Today, in “don’t belive everything you read on the internet” news, it turns out Lizzo is not “quitting music,” as many gleaned from a post in which she vented about her frustrations with how she’s perceived in the media. Rather, she says she’s quitting on giving energy to that negativity, as she clarified in a new video post taken from what look like quite comfortable surroundings. In the video, Lizzo takes a moment before hitting the beach or the pool at whatever resort she’s currently enjoying to address the viral reports stemming from her post.
“When I say I quit, I mean quit giving any negative energy attention,” she explained. “What I’m not gonna quit is the joy of my life, which is making music, which is connecting the people… In no way, shape, or form am I the only person who is experiencing that negative voice that seems to be louder than the positive. If I can just send one person the inspiration or motivation to stand up for themselves and say they quit letting negative people win, negative comments win, then I’ve done even more than I could have hoped for.”
Lizzo says she isn’t quitting music:
“When I say I quit, I mean quit giving any negative energy attention. What I’m not gonna quit, is the joy of my life, which is making music which is connecting the people.” pic.twitter.com/itKDL68hKM
— Pop Crave (@PopCrave) April 2, 2024
Lizzo’s no stranger to receiving negative comments but the singer has seen the scrutiny on her increase in the months since being sued for creating a hostile workplace by a group of her former tour dancers. While Lizzo shut down the allegations in the suit and, in fact, received messages of encouragement from many of her industry peers, her request to have the case thrown out was denied.
A month later, she wrote on Instagram, “I’m getting tired of putting up with being dragged by everyone in my life and on the internet. All I want is to make music and make people happy and help the world be a little better than I found it. But I’m starting to feel like the world doesn’t want me in it. I’m constantly up against lies being told about me for clout & views… being the butt of the joke every single time because of how I look… my character being picked apart by people who don’t know me and disrespecting my name. I didn’t sign up for this sh*t — I QUIT.”
If all this means is that she’s turning over her social media passwords to a qualified manager to add a buffer between herself and the negativity, then good on her. While being authentic online is key to many artists’ brands, there’s definitely a threshold of diminishing returns if it means they have to suffer bullying from anonymous nobodies with nasty spirits. Here’s hoping she finds some peace of mind as she works on her next album.