Singer and body positivity icon Lizzo has issued a powerful and defiant rebuke to online trolls who targeted her with a cruel 'fat joke', despite her significant recent weight loss. The star took to Instagram on Thursday to confront the bodyshamers head-on.
A Viral Joke and a Fierce Response
Posting a headless bikini photo, the 37-year-old 'Good As Hell' hitmaker revealed she had seen a viral joke mocking her size. "Today I saw a fat joke about me— in 2025—and it was viral," Lizzo began. She expressed frustration that the commentary focused solely on her physique, regardless of her size. "Let me be a reminder to everyone to NEVER let anyone shame you for what you choose to do with your body," she urged her followers.
Lizzo emphasised that public opinion is fickle and unattainable. "Because when you’re big they talk sh**, when you’re small they talk sh**. Your body will never be good enough for them because it’s not FOR them. It’s for you," she wrote. She concluded her message with a characteristically unapologetic statement: "Anyways.. my fat ass stays living with a paid off mortgage in yall bitches heads." Her post received support from celebrities including model Linda Evangelista and singer Halle Bailey.
The Complicated Journey Behind the Transformation
This confrontation comes after Lizzo has openly discussed her complicated relationship with her public image and her body. Having lost an estimated 60lbs, she announced in January that she had reached her 'weight release' goal. However, in a candid Substack essay, she admitted struggling with being 'overshadowed' by her weight, feeling her talent was obscured.
"I was sick and tired of my identity being overshadowed by my fatness," she wrote. Lizzo described the treatment she received as a confident, plus-sized public figure as "borderline emotional abuse." Her decision to lose weight was not initially intentional but stemmed from a period of severe depression in late 2023, following a series of lawsuits from former employees, which she denies.
She turned to Pilates as physical therapy, later deciding to intentionally 'release' weight she felt had become a 'protective shield'. "It was energetic for me, not vain," she stressed. Lizzo has been transparent about her methods, crediting hard work, diet changes—abandoning a high-calorie junk food vegan lifestyle—and has admitted to trying GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic, which she says work by reducing appetite.
Reclaiming the Narrative
Despite her physical transformation, Lizzo remains fiercely protective of her autonomy and rejects external commentary. She has refused to publicly state her exact weight loss figure, criticising those who attach numbers to her journey. "If I get a BBL mind ur business, if lose 100lbs mind ur business, if I gain every pound back and then some… mind ur f***ing business," she declared in her Instagram post.
Her message reinforces a core tenet of the body positivity movement she helped mainstream: that self-worth and bodily autonomy are paramount. By confronting the trolls directly, Lizzo continues to challenge the relentless scrutiny faced by women in the public eye, asserting that the only opinion about her body that matters is her own.
