Lizzo reflects on weight loss, Ozempic culture backlash and the ‘skinny’ trend in powerful essay
Pop star Lizzo has taken a shot at a concerning new trend engulfing popular culture.
Opening up about the nuanced process of weight loss for plus-sized people on her Substack, the About Damn Time singer, real name Melissa Jefferson, took the opportunity to give her two cents on Ozempic culture and the implications surrounding it.
In a highly personal essay entitled ‘Why is everyone losing weight and what do we do? Sincerely, a person who’s lost weight,’ Jefferson detailed a period of “self-loathing,” during which she lost around 16 per cent of her body fat.
In the candid essay, Lizzo – who shared that she currently weighs over 200 pounds (90kgs) and is “still a proud big girl” – said she feels as though plus-size women are being “erased” as weight-loss drugs like Ozempic rise in popularity.
She recently hard-launched her trimmer figure early this year, posting a series of before-and-after progress pictures to her Instagram.
Fans were initially shocked at the transformation, allegedly labelling the star’s previous body-positive advocacy as “performative” in the wake of her drastic weight loss.
But the star said in an era where “extended sizes are being magically erased from websites,” that “bigger girls are getting smaller because they’re tired of being judged.”
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“Plus-sized models are no longer getting booked for modelling gigs. And all of our big girls are not-so-big anymore,” she reflected, adding, “We have a lot of work to do, to undo the effects of the Ozempic boom.”
The much-loved hitmaker was engulfed in scandal in 2023, after two former dancers and a designer came forward with allegations of sexual harassment and ‘creating a hostile work environment’.
Following the backlash that resulted from this, Lizzo found her usual coping method of “ordering hundreds of dollars of food delivery” no longer worked to distract her.
“This time I just didn’t feel like doing that.”
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“Not because I thought it would result in my weight loss, but honestly, I didn’t care about my body. I didn’t want to feel safe,” she wrote.
She revealed that eventually, she decided to regain control over her life through healthier methods, saying she needed a way to “process the pain.”
In addition to talking therapy, she began moving her body.
“I started with Pilates… I used it as physical therapy.”
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But she was quick to clarify self-love is not directly tied to weight, saying she will continue to love herself “no matter what the scale says.”
She then called for more nuanced conversations surrounding body positivity, where we “release ourselves from the illusion that there is only good and bad.”
“I want us to allow the body positive movement to expand and grow far away from the commercial slop it’s become. Because movements move,” she added.
Anyone needing support with eating disorders or body image issues should contact: Butterfly National Helpline on 1800 33 4673 (1800 ED HOPE) or support@butterfly.org.au; Eating Disorders Victoria Helpline on 1300 550 23.
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