Lizzo fears plus-size women are being “edged out” from society amid the rise in popularity of weight-loss drugs.
Taking to Substack on Sunday, the singer-songwriter published a personal essay titled “Why is everybody losing weight and what do we do? Sincerely, a person who’s lost weight.”
In the article, Lizzo – real name Melissa Jefferson – revealed she weighs 200 pounds (90 kilograms) after going on a dedicated health and “weight release” journey over the past two years.
But while the Juice hitmaker appreciates the impact her association with the body positivity movement has had on her career, she believes the message of the campaign has shifted over time.
“Just like that, it became branded for everyone. Unfortunately, once something becomes for everyone, the people that it was originally created for are edged out. It’s no longer for us anymore,” she wrote. “It’s no longer for the size 16 and up community. It’s no longer for the disabled plus-sized community. It’s no longer for the queer, indigenous, plus-sized community. I would look up the has body positivity hashtag and I would see size eight, straight, white women dominating the category.”
Lizzo went on to claim that she has noticed extended sizes have been “magically erased” from some fashion websites and that plus-size models are no longer getting booked for gigs.
Accordingly, the Truth Hurts star put this down to the development of GLP-1 medications that support weight loss, such as Ozempic.
“All of our big girls are not-so-big anymore. I am still a proud big girl. Objectively Big. Over 200 pounds. And I love myself as much as I’ve loved myself, no matter what the scale says,” the 37-year-old continued. “There may be some bad actors amongst us. Some people may have used the movement for financial gain or fame, and once it no longer served them, they abandoned it. That’s OK, it was never about them anyway. We have a lot of work to do, to undo the effects of the Ozempic boom.”
To conclude, Lizzo vowed to revive the original message of the body positivity moment.
“I have a lot of work to do to regain the trust of the movement that gave me wings. It is work I am willing and ready to do. I want us to allow the body positive movement to expand and grow far away from the commercial slop its become (sic). Because movements move,” she added.
