Upon the release of Lizzo’s new Cardi B collab “Rumors” last week, the rapper and singer was bombarded with negative online comments, many of them fat-shaming or racist in nature. It got so bad that Lizzo broke down in tears Sunday on Instagram Live, telling viewers, “Sometimes I feel like the world just don’t love me back.” She also posted a TikTok video critiquing the use of the Mammy trope against her: “These people who are saying this are probably the same people who are mad when I’m being hyper sexual and the mammy trope is actually completelys desexualized. So it can’t both be true — make it make sense. I really think people are just mad to see a fat Black woman that makes pop music and is happy.”
A number of celebrities expressed their support for Lizzo, including Cardi, who wrote that “Body shaming and callin her mammy is mean & racist as fuck” among other tweets defending her collaborator. Now TMZ reports that Facebook has joined the cause by deleting comments on her Facebook and Instagram accounts that are deemed to violate the platforms’ policies against hate speech, harassment, and bullying. This process has resulted in the deletion of some users’ accounts for persistent infringement. A rep for Facebook says they’re continuing to monitor for the situation and will axe more accounts if necessary.
Check out Lizzo and Cardi’s commentary on the issue below.
@lizzo #stitch with @pablothedon They don’t know I do it for the culture.. gahdam