Lizzo Calls Out TikTok For Taking Down Her Swimsuit Videos
Lizzo is an accomplished singer, rapper, and flutist with three studio albums and three Grammy wins so far. These are grand accomplishments for any artist. But to her fans, she’s so much more than a musician: She’s also a much-needed role model for body positivity and self-love.
Lizzo loves to show off her body proudly in her live shows and on social media. But recently she’s had to stand her ground on that freedom of expression after the video-sharing platform, TikTok, removed one of her posts.
TikTok took down Lizzo’s video
While videos can be of anything, TikTok is most known and used for using songs on the platform as a backtrack for mini music videos. On March 2nd, Lizzo posted a video in this style that ended with her pulling up her dress to reveal what appeared to be nude undergarments. The platform subsequently took the video down for not meeting community standards.
The following day, Lizzo posted a video with text blurbs throughout stating: “TikTok keeps taking down my videos with me in my bathing suits. But allows other videos with girls in bathing suits. I wonder why? Tiktok… we need to talk.”
Behind the text, we see Lizzo lip-synching to Erin McMillen’s take on the old song “You Belong to Me,” however in this rendition, the only lyrics are “I know” over and over again. This was presumably to show that she knows the answer to her own question: it’s because of her size.
Lizzo’s video is back up on TikTok
Following Lizzo’s call-out, TikTok allowed the video back on the platform. A spokesperson told Page Six that because it appeared Lizzo was flashing her underwear, it went against community guidelines.
But upon further investigation, they saw it was a bathing suit and reversed their decision. They said the video was not taken down because of her body type.
Underwear or bathing suit, what was shown in the video covered more than some of the bathing suits worn by Lizzo and her friends in past videos, which sometimes included thongs. Lizzo has not has such issues on Instagram and sometimes posts videos in lingerie on the more permissive platform.
Lizzo’s posts bring out the fans and the haters
While Lizzo has a loyal following of fans, she also has a fair amount of haters that feel the need to comment on everything she does. From those crying “think of the children,” to those espousing the dangers of obesity, the outright hatred, or hatred masked as concerns, knows no bounds.
Fans are 100% behind Lizzo; however, regularly calling out commenters and reminding them they don’t have to look at her feed. Many are inspired by her confidence and beauty and express their approval again and again. Lizzo, for her part, pays the haters no mind.
Lizzo is a champion of body positivity
In a 2019 interview with ET Canada, Lizzo spoke in-depth about her views on body positivity: “It’s so interesting that body positivity is a thing but body negativity isn’t and I think it’s because body negativity is the norm. It’s what’s expected, so body positivity is this novel idea.”
She explained that she believes a big part of body negativity comes from consumerism and the media. She says we are always chasing after an idea of ourselves that we haven’t quite yet achieved. That’s how companies sell things and make a profit.
“You never really feel complete and you never really feel happy completely about yourself,” she summarized.
When asked if she bought into that mindset in the past, she agreed she did but no longer does. Now, she still buys things but with positive intent. She said that it’s ok to buy things you want for beauty, but that you shouldn’t “need” them.
Early in her career, Lizzo would use her time performing on tour to “rant” (as she put it) to audiences about body positivity. Now that she has learned how to infuse that message with her music she said it’s made it even bigger.
