Lizzo Breaks Silence After Lakers Twerking, Outfit Controversy

Lizzo is speaking out after her skin-baring outfit at the Los Angeles Lakers vs. Minnesota Timberwolves game Sunday night generated plenty of buzz, both good and bad. On Monday, less than 24 hours after sparking calls from fans to ban her form the Staples Center due to her risqué look, the “Truth Hurts” singer took to Instagram to defend herself in a live video and brush off the backlash.

“Who I am and the essence of me and the things I choose to do as a grown ass woman can inspire you to do the same,” she said, according to Popbuzz. “You don’t have to be like me, you need to be like you and never ever let somebody stop you, or shame you from being yourself. This is who I’ve always been.”

“Now everyone’s looking at it…and your criticism can just remain your criticism. Your criticism has no effect on me, negative criticism has no stake in my life, no control over my life, over my emotions,” she continued. “I’m the happiest I’ve ever been I’m surrounded by love and I just want to spread that love – and also spread these cheeks. And you know what? If you really, really don’t like my ass, you can kiss it. ‘Cause kissing it makes it go away, I promise.”

Commenting on the backlash, Lizzo went on to state that “it doesn’t really matter what goes down on the internet, nothing really breaks my joy.”

“I’m a really solid grounded person and I know that I’m really shocking because you’ve never seen in a long time a body like mine doing whatever it wants to do and dressing the way that it dresses and moving the way that it moves,” she said. “But I don’t want to censor myself because I’m suddenly famous, or I don’t want to censor myself because everyone’s looking at me now. I’m not going to quiet myself, I’m not going to shrink myself because somebody thinks that I’m not sexy to them.”

The rapper’s black t-shirt dress with a cut-out backside had become all the talk during the game, with the chatter continuing well after the Lakers walked off the court victors, beating the Timberwolves 142 to 125. Many felt that the outfit, which she put on full display when twerking, was inappropriate for the family setting, while others wondered if it was unhygienic.

Although Lizzo, who is known for her fierce support of body positivity, did not directly address why she chose the particular ensemble, she subtly suggested on Twitter that she was inspired by Rihanna.