Facebook Reportedly Deleting Racist, Fatphobic Comments Aimed at Lizzo
Facebook is coming to the defense of Lizzo following fatphobic and racist social media comments aimed at the pop superstar.
On Aug. 13, Lizzo debuted her first new single in two years, "Rumors," featuring Cardi B, the lyrics for which call out both social media trolls and the media for spreading rumors, gossip and criticism about her. Unfortunately, vicious vile trolls have been leaving numerous racist and fatphobic comments on social media in response to her song and empowering music video.
According to TMZ, both Facebook and Instagram have been deleting numerous hateful comments on Lizzo's most recent posts about the single. Additionally, sources at the social media company told the outlet that they will be removing accounts that continue to violate their community guidelines regarding hate speech, harassment and bullying.
The abuse got so bad that the "Juice" singer broke down in tears during an Instagram Live on Aug. 15. She told her viewers that "sometimes I feel like the world just don’t love me back.”
“For the most part, it doesn’t hurt my feelings. I don’t care,” she added. “I just think when I’m working this hard, my tolerance gets lower, my patience is lower, I’m more sensitive and it gets to me.”
Later the same day, Cardi B saw the video of Lizzo and addressed the hate comments.
"When you stand up for yourself they claim [you're] problematic & sensitive," Cardi B tweeted. "When you don’t they tear you apart until you crying like this. Whether you [are] skinny, big, plastic, they going to always try to put their insecurities on you. Remember these are nerds looking at the popular table."
On TikTok, user @Pablothedon shared a video about Lizzo being called the racist term, "m---y." According to Merriam-Webster, the term is defined as a "Black woman serving as a nurse to white children, especially formerly in the southern U.S." The term was created during slavery in an attempt to fuel the rumor that Black women were complacent with servitude.
Lizzo responded to the comment in her own TikTok video:
"This is exactly why I started off the song with 'they don't know I do it for the culture,'" the singer explained. "These people who are saying this are probably the same people who are mad when I am being hypersexual and the m---y trope is actually desexualized. So it can't both be true. Make it make sense."
She continued, "I think people are just mad to see a fat Black woman that makes pop music and is happy. Y'all are so upset that I am happy. But this doesn't even bother me because Aretha Franklin was criticized by the Black church when she came out, Whitney Houston was booed and Beyonce received criticism early in her career."