Lizzo thought it was “about damn time” to address the ambiguous message she posted to Instagram over the weekend.
In the post, the singer posted that she’s “tired of putting up with being dragged by everyone in my life and on the internet. All I want to do is make music and make people happy and help the world be a little better than how I found it,” adding. “But I’m starting to feel like the world doesn’t want me in it” and “I quit.”
Lizzo’s been in a legal battle with her backup dancers since last August, as three of the dancers alleged in a lawsuit that she fat-shamed and sexually harassed them. The singer denied the allegations with a statement to Instagram at the time, calling them “outrageous,” but in February, the California Supreme Court denied her motion to have the case dismissed.
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The dancers’ attorney, Ron Zambrano, responded to Lizzo’s “I quit” post on their behalf in a statement to Entertainment Weekly: “It's a joke that Lizzo would say she is being bullied by the internet when she should instead be taking an honest look at herself,” the statement reads. “Her latest post is just another outburst seeking attention and trying to deflect from her own failings as she continues to blame everyone else for the predicament she is in. Lizzo's legal and public relations strategy is a failure, so she is desperately trying to play the victim.”
Lizzo took to Instagram again on Tuesday to say she didn’t mean for her “I quit” post to sound like she was quitting music. She says she meant that she would quit “giving any negative energy attention.”
“I wanna make this video ‘cause I just need to clarify,” she said in the new video, “What I’m not gonna quit is the joy of my life, which is making music, which is connecting to people, ‘cause I know I’m not alone.”
“In no way, shape or form am I the only person who has experienced that negative voice that seems to be louder than the positive,” she continued. “If I can just give 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. With that being said, I’m going to keep moving forward and keep being me.”
