Lizzo's back on social media, but did a TikTok pile-on force her offline?
After more than a week of silence on social media, Lizzo is back, but what kept her away for so long? The answer could lie in an #aboutdamntime challenge gone wrong.
It's fair to say Lizzo is a regular on social media, but for a full week, fans didn't hear anything from the hitmaker.
Then, late on Monday, she finally resurfaced with posts on Instagram and TikTok. The star said she had missed interacting with followers and she treated them to a very cheeky Instagram video with the caption: "Hi… I needed some time. How are you?"
On TikTok, Lizzo added "I miss y'all" in the caption to her latest upload. In it, the 34-year-od gives her two cents on the latest TikTok trends, while also insisting: "I like every single #aboutdamntime about damn time video...I don't give a F**k how many views it has. I love you."
It ends, however, on a heavy note: "Yes, everything's racist 'cause this is a racist society founded on racist values. Yes, it's exhausting to talk about, but even more exhausting to experience."
Across all her posts, the musician wrote she had been "sad."
"All I know is I’m gonna to try to be part of positive change on this planet. People are precious & deserve to be protected. Take care of yourselves today," Lizzo said.
So what exactly happened and what people "deserve to be protected"? It might have something to do with a sarcastic TikTok Stitch that involved TikTok user Awkward Marina on May 22.
Joke misinterpretation leads to bullying
In that clip, Lizzo wryly pokes fun at Marina's rendition of About Damn Time, which awkwardly cuts out the "damn" in the famous song line.
"You could have just said, 'It's about that time.' You didn't have to go, 'It's about time.' Swipe there, people," Lizzo quipped.
But it turns out that some people weren't just content to swipe. Marina suffered a pile-on of abuse and even death threats. The response was equally fierce, with calls for Lizzo to apologize to the TikTok user flooding the comments.
Early Monday, Awkward Marina made a TikTok response video, summing up the whole controversy and asking people to let it go: "I made a joke. Lizzo made a joke about my joke. People misinterpreted her joke and started bullying me. I am not mad at Lizzo... She does not owe me an apology video."
The quirky pop culture enthusiast asked people to "stop bombarding Lizzo with comments about me. You're literary making her out to be this monster."
She continued with an even more serious point: "A lot of people have pointed out in this situation that oftentimes Black women are called aggressive for no good reason at all, and that's what I'm seeing."
Not long after Awkward Marina's plea, Lizzo made her own TikTok comeback with that pointed reference to racism, so the connection is hard to miss.
Whatever happened, it's great to have one of the most fun celebs out there back to create more fun challenges and hilarious videos.
Cover photo: screenshot/ @Lizzo @awkwardmarina