Lizzo, the Grammy Award-winning singer, clarified on Tuesday that she was not quitting the music industry, days after her social media post saying “I QUIT” led some fans to speculate that she was ending her music career.
In a video posted on social media, Lizzo said she was not leaving the music business and instead was quitting “giving any negative energy attention.”
“What I’m not going to quit is the joy of my life, which is making music, which is connecting to people, cause I know I’m not alone,” she said in the video. “In no way shape or form am I the only person who is experiencing that negative voice that seems to be louder than the positive.”
She continued: “If I can just give one person the inspiration or motivation to stand up for themselves, and say they quit letting negative people win, negative comments win, then I’ve done even more than I could’ve hoped for.”
Speculation that Lizzo was leaving the industry arose after she posted a message on Instagram on March 30 that ended with the words: “I QUIT.”
“I’m getting tired of putting up with being dragged by everyone in my life and on the internet,” she wrote in the initial post. “All I want is to make music and make people happy and help the world be a little better than how I found it. But I’m starting to feel like the world doesn’t want me in it.”
Lizzo has won four Grammy Awards and rose to fame with hits including “Truth Hurts,” “About Damn Time” and other feel-good songs that promoted self-love. She built on her success by launching the shapewear line Yitty in 2022, and creating a reality television show on Amazon Prime Video, “Lizzo’s Watch Out for the Big Grrrls,” which aired the same year. On the show, dancers competed to back her up onstage.
These ventures have been clouded by criticism, including over a perceived contradiction between her promotion of body positivity and sale of shapewear, while lawsuits were filed last year accusing her of creating a hostile work environment on tour.
Three of her former dancers, including two who competed on the television show, filed a lawsuit in August 2023 accusing Lizzo of creating a hostile work environment. Lizzo denied the allegations. In February, a judge dismissed some of the claims, but allowed the case to move to trial.
In September 2023, a former wardrobe designer who had worked briefly on Lizzo’s 2023 tour before being dismissed filed a lawsuit asserting that the tour’s wardrobe manager had created a hostile work environment, which tour management and Lizzo had failed to address. A spokesman for Lizzo called the suit an “absurd publicity stunt,” and her lawyers asked a judge to dismiss the lawsuit in December.
The response to Lizzo’s “I QUIT” statement was not the first time she has been the subject of speculation that she might leave the industry. In 2023, she made her Twitter account private several times, and said it was because of comments people made about her weight.