Lizzo describes cancel culture as “appropriation”

Music superstar Lizzo tweeted about abandonment culture on Sunday, claiming that the phenomenon is “appropriation” and is both “abused” and “misguided.”

“This may be a random timing to say this, but it’s on my heart. Breaking off culture is appropriation. There was real outrage from truly marginalized people, and now it’s trendy, abused and misguided. I hope we can end this and focus our outrage on the real issues,” Lizzo said tweeted.

Last year, Lizzo changed the lyrics in one of her songs that originally contained the word “Spaz.”

She posted a expression on June 13, 2022, noting that there was a new edition of the song with altered lyrics.

“I was made aware that my new song ‘GRRRLS’ contains a harmful word. Let me get one thing straight: I never wish to encourage derogatory language,” she noted in the statement. “As a fat black woman in America, many hurtful words have been used against me to help me overcome the power that words can have (whether intentionally or, in my case, unintentionally). I am proud to say that there is a new version of GRRRLS with a lyrical change. This is the result of my listening and acting. As an influential artist, I’ve made it my mission to be a part of the change I’ve been waiting for in the world.”

“I’ve never heard it used as an insult to people with disabilities, ever,” Lizzo said vanity fair. “The music I make is to make me feel good and to be authentic to me. Using a bow is inauthentic to me, but I didn’t know it was a bow. It’s a word I’ve heard a lot, especially on rap songs, and with my black friends, and in my black circles: it means go off, turn up [it as a] verb, not as a noun or adjective. I used it as it is used in the Black community. The internet drew my attention to it, but it wouldn’t [have been enough] to make me change something.”

One person who disagreed with the use of the word also expressed unwillingness to “delete” the music artist.

“As a black disabled person with spastic cerebral palsy, I’m upset that Lizzo used an ableistic slur in her song. Using “sp@z” as a slur in a song or in everyday language neglects to understand the lived experiences of people who struggle with cramps on a daily basis,” Oluwatobi Abubakare tweeted on June 13, 2022. “But I’m not willing to cancel or pull her for that. She should be held accountable for her use and publicly acknowledge the damage this word is doing to disabled people,” Abubakare said continued.