Three years after the “About Damn Time” singer was the subject of two harassment and discrimination lawsuits—the second of which was completely dismissed last month—Lizzo detailed what she’s learned about herself and how to navigate the public’s perception.
“I had to make peace with the fact that there's a version of Lizzo that exists now that the world controls,” Lizzo told Willie Geist in an interview that aired on Oct. 4 episode of Sunday Today. “The world controls the narrative, and I don't.”
As she emphasized, “But what I can control is who I really am.”
Because of this, the Grammy winner noted that she doesn’t feel the need to “fight back” against untruths.
“I’m not a fighter,” she said. “I'm a lover.”
But according to Lizzo (real name Melissa Jefferson), she’s found that the music industry is a “headline game.”
“How many headlines can I have out there about the things that I'm doing that I'm proud of,” she shared, “and that I actually did?”
Despite going through some difficult experiences, the “Truth Hurts” artist believes “everything that happens to you, good or bad, is an opportunity for growth.”
“It's an opportunity for self-reflection and to learn about yourself,” she explained, “and to, even if you don't like parts of yourself, deal with it and work on it. And then the person you become at the end of that is someone you couldn't even imagine, and you fall in love with them.”
In August 2023, Lizzo was sued by three of her former backup dancers—Crystal Williams, Arianna Davis and Noelle Rodriguez—who accused her of sexual harassment, weight-shaming and disability discrimination, along with creating “hostile, abusive work environment,” according to the complaint obtained by E! News at the time.
The “Good As Hell” artist subsequently denied the allegations, calling them “false” and “outrageous.”
While the case is still ongoing, the fat-shaming claims were dismissed in December 2025, per the BBC at the time.
Meanwhile, in the second lawsuit—filed in September 2023—Lizzo’s former wardrobe assistant Asha Daniels accused the “Rumors” singer and her production company of discrimination and harassment.
After the complaint was thrown out by a Los Angeles judge last month, Lizzo shared that she was “relieved” by the news.
“I prayed for the truth to come out, and thanks to my incredible lawyers, the truth has prevailed,” she wrote in a Sept. 1 Instagram Reel. “The truth matters more to me than anything, and I told y’all I will not settle and will continue to fight until every vicious claim that has been made against me and my businesses.”
To see more of Lizzo’s empowering quotes over the years, keep reading…
After stitching a TikTok video from user @tiffriahgrande, Lizzo supported the influencer by sharing that she was "heavy on the not trying to escape fatness."
"Exercise has helped me shift my mind, not my body. My body is going to change, everyone's bodies change," she shared in a TikTok, before pointing to her head, adding, "Everything I eat, everything I do, every time I move my body, it's all for this," she said, pointing to her head. "If this ain't happy, none of this is happy."
"I am here tonight because to be an icon isn't about how long you have had your platform. Being an icon is what you do with that platform. And ever since the beginning of my career, I have used my platform to amplify marginalized voices," Lizzo said while accepting the People's Champion Award at the 2022 People's Choice Awards, proceeding to welcome 17 activists to the stage. "So tonight I am sharing this honor. Make some noise for the people, y'all."
The Grammy winner took to Instagram to encourage her fans to unapologetically love themselves. "To celebrate I wanna give y'all this unedited selfie..," she shared on April 2021. "Now normally I would fix my belly and smooth my skin but baby I wanted show u how I do it au natural—I am excited to be partnering with @dove and the #DoveSelfEsteemProject which is helping to reverse the negative effects of social media and changing the conversation about beauty standards. Let's get real y'all."
On struggling with self-confidence, Lizzo told CBS Sunday Morning in October 2019, "It's not something that you really change. It's something that you address and work on. I had to address every layer of insecurity because I can't just be like, 'Alright, my arm's not jiggly and lumpy anymore.' That's delusional. You have to be like, 'That's not ugly to me anymore and it's not wrong to me. It's beautiful to me.'"
"I'm all about body positivity and self-love because I believe that we can save the world if we first save ourselves," Lizzo told fans at a show in Sydney, Australia in January 2020, according to local newspaper The Daily Telegraph.
In January 2020, the former Biggest Loser trainer said on Buzzfeed News' digital series AM to DM, "Why are we celebrating [Lizzo's] body? Why does it matter? Why aren't we celebrating her music? 'Cause it isn't going to be awesome if she gets diabetes." Fans accused Michaels of fat-shaming the star.
Lizzo later said on Instagram, "I have done nothing wrong. I forgive myself for thinking I was wrong in the first place. I deserve to be happy." She also said, "If my name is in your mouth, so is my p---y, bitch. Enjoy the flavor!"
Michaels later said on E!'s Daily Pop, "We cannot deny the inevitable fact that being overweight leads to heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and these things kill people. So if me telling you I don't celebrate someone being overweight because it could kill them is fat-shaming, ya got me. But by the way, I also don't celebrate anybody's weight. I don't celebrate you if you're a [size] 0. I don't celebrate you if you're a [size] 6. I don't care."
"And the argument that I'm trying to make is that I think people have felt so marginalized for so long and so excluded for so long, that the pendulum has swung to this place where it's like, 'You can't hurt me with this, I love being overweight,'" Michaels continued. "And that's the part where I, as a health expert, have to say, this will kill you."
"I don't celebrate anyone being overweight because it kills people," she said. "And denying that fact because it's politically correct isn't honorable and isn't virtuous. It's irresponsible and arguably dangerous. I just, I'm sorry I won't lie because it'll make you like me. I don't think it's doing anyone any favors."
"You're not supposed to be happy all the time," Lizzo told a group of band musicians at her high school, as captured in a CBS Sunday Morning profile. "You're not supposed to know what you're doing all the time, especially at this age, but not knowing what you're doing has nothing to do with where you're going, so I want you to know that. Cherish your journey and respect your journey."
In May 2019, Lizzo, who plays a stripper in Hustlers, told Essence, "I love creating shapes with my body, and I love normalizing the dimples in my butt or the lumps in my thighs or my back fat or my stretch marks. I love normalizing my black-ass elbows. I think it's beautiful."
"I made a decision to be myself because I knew I had no choice," she added. "Sometimes the label 'unapologetic' bothers me because it can be loaded, because it means we have to apologize for something in the first place. I'm not ignorant to the fact that we had to have a demeanor of lowering ourselves culturally just to exist. But I'm trying to shake up the narrative about how we're supposed to act."
In May 2019, Lizzo shared a topless mirror selfie on Instagram, writing, "Can't tell if I look better w/ or w/out clothes."
At the 2019 BET Awards, Lizzo told E! News, "Last year I came to the BET Awards, I tried to go to the carpet and the carpet closed and they were like, 'You gotta just go inside.' And now I'm on the carpet doing all these interviews, taking all these pictures, feeling like that bitch, nominated and performing on the main stage. I couldn't ask for a better glow up."
In June 2019, Lizzo said a racist and "bigoted" security guard attacked members of her team at Summerfest, tweeting, "Friendly reminder that you don't have to say the 'n word' to be racist. That's not the sole requirement. Asking people to prove racism is another tool the oppressor uses to marginalize and discredit us."
"I want people to feel good! We can heal the world but first, we have to heal ourselves," Lizzo told fans while performing at the 2019 We Can Survive benefit concert supporting the American Cancer Society.
"Please do not send me poems, letters, or paintings if ur side bitch is still playing dress up in ur home," she wrote on Instagram in November 2019. "I'm doing great. Leave me alone, thanks."
"When I get really, really anxious before a show, I just go harder and harder and harder when I'm performing and I just go crazy," Lizzo told British Vogue in fall 2019. "I don't know why, but my anxiety sometimes fuels who I am as a performer and who I am as an artist – and I know that is not the case for everyone. I don't know if my body just, like, out of a desperate need to find a place for my anxiety or find a use for it, takes it and puts it there."
On Jimmy Kimmel Live! in November 2019, Lizzo joined celebs in reading Mean Tweets. One of them said, "Lizzo. Bus passes and happy meals. Two things that I imagine #Lizzo has seen a lot of." She responded, "Yeah, I'm a big bitch and I ride a bus. A tour bus, motherf--ker. Where's yours?!"
Lizzo attended the 2019 American Music Awards sporting what she said was a "bag big enough for my f--ks to give," adding, "Big body bitch in a Valentin-HO custom look for."
"Close your eyes and say, 'I love you, me,'" she told the crowd while performing at iHeartRadio's 102.7 KIIS FM 2019 Jingle Ball in December 2019. "Now look at me and say, 'I love you, Lizzo. Now this is a very no judgment crowd, no shame in your game. If you want to wiggle, I want to see you wiggle. If you want to laugh, then laugh. If you want to scream, scream!"
Later in her set, she told the crowd, "Thank you for accepting me for who I am. I want to let you know that if 20,000 people can accept me for who I am, the whole world can fall in love with you."
"You know how long it took me to fall in love with this body?" the longtime body positivity advocate said on CBS This Morning in December 2019. "My butt was my least favorite thing about myself. And I learned to love it. And now it's the thing everybody can't stop talking about... Be you. Do you. Don't let anybody steal your joy."