Known for her unapologetic confidence and self-love, Lizzo has been a symbol of body positivity in an industry that often sets ridiculous beauty standards for artists.
However, fans and critics have had a lot to say about Lizzo after losing weight and being accused of body shaming her employees. Questions arose about her authenticity and the real reasons she lost weight.
Can she advocate for self-acceptance while changing her lifestyle to lose weight? And what do these allegations reveal about the American artist?
In this article, we’ll explore the layers of Lizzo’s weight loss journey and the reasons behind her choices.
How Much Does Lizzo Weight?
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Though the artist hasn’t disclosed her weight publicly, some people estimated her weight to be around 300 pounds before her weight loss journey. However, those estimates are purely based on her looks and her height, so they may not be accurate.
After losing weight, Lizzo is estimated to weigh around 260 pounds.
Lizzo’s Weight Loss Journey: Detoxes, Working Out, and Backlash
Despite being overweight, Lizzo has advocated for body positivity for years. That’s why fans were shocked when she uploaded a TikTok video in September of this year, showing off her new figure with apparent weight loss.
Though it’s the first time we see her with that much weight loss, the truth is that Lizzo has been making conscious health choices for years:
The 2020 Detox Backlash
In 2020, Lizzo mentioned she was doing a 10-day detox, relying solely on a green smoothie for nutrition.
According to the American rapper, the smoothie helped her improve her mental state and sleep. She’s had a tough month where she ate a lot of spicy things, so she wanted to get her stomach back to normal.
However, she received a lot of backlash from critics because a 10-day detox is unhealthy, and she had a significant influence on her fans, so she was indirectly promoting a harmful practice.
Working Out for Eight Years Now
The fact that Lizzo takes working out seriously isn’t news. Since 2021, she’s been uploading videos of her exercises, and during one video, she mentioned that she’d been working out consistently for five years.
In 2024, that makes eight years of working out. In the same video, she mentioned that she’s not working to reach an ideal body shape according to society’s standards but rather to have her body shape.
In other videos, she mentioned that she had been a vegetarian for most of her life and vegan since 2020.
A Demanding High-Performance Job
In 2023, Lizzo addressed her fitness journey, mentioning that she had no choice but to stick to a consistent workout routine to keep up with her high-performance job.
She said she’d need to stand on the stage for 90 minutes a night, singing, dancing, playing with the flute, and doing choreography. On top of that, she’d have to hype up the crowd and sometimes wear very tight clothes that’d be difficult to breathe in.
Because of all that, she had to maintain a healthy body, even if it didn’t live up to society’s standards of the ideal body shape. She emphasized a lot of times the fact that she’s working out to keep up with her job and stay active, not to lose weight.
Lizzo Between Weight Loss and Body Shaming Allegations
Usually, it’s not a big deal when someone in the entertainment industry loses much weight. Melissa McCarthy, Kelly Clarkson, and a lot more people did it without receiving backlash. However, in Lizzo’s case, it’s different because there have been some allegations about her body shaming her employees.
Three backup dancers who used to be on her team filed a lawsuit against her, claiming that she created a hostile, abusive work environment where she body-shamed them. They mentioned some incidents where they were pressured to participate in performances that they found uncomfortable. On top of that, they had to endure shameful comments about their bodies.
As expected, Lizzo addressed the issue in an Instagram post, denying the allegations and saying she didn’t mean to make anyone uncomfortable.
A few months later, she declared that she intended to quit when the criticism was still increasing. Days later, she explained that she wouldn’t be quitting the music industry, but instead, she’d be quitting giving her attention to negative energy.
Is Lizzo Going on Trial for Body Shaming Her Dancers?
In February of this year, Lizzo filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuits against her under the anti-SLAPP statute in California, which supposedly helps end meritless lawsuits. Her lawyers argued that the lawsuits tried to silence Lizzo, threatening her free speech.
That didn’t go as planned for Lizzo, though. The judge denied her request and allowed her case to proceed to trial. Granted, he did toss out some claims, including one about Lizzo fat-shaming her dancers, but he didn’t dismiss the case.
Accordingly, Lizzo and her dance team captain still have to face the allegations against them, which include sexual harassment, religious discrimination, and racial discrimination.
What’s Next for Lizzo?
What’s next for Lizzo between her weight loss journey and the case going against her? Will she keep losing weight despite promoting body positivity as a part of her branding? Or will she come out with new health trends that her fans will follow?
After losing that much weight, we’re excited to see what the star is up to. As long as she stays healthy and encourages self-acceptance, she’ll likely remain in the spotlight, but how long that will last depends on the case’s outcome. Let’s hope everyone gets deserved justice!
