Lizzo Made a Statement in Jean Paul Gaultier at the VMAs
’Tis fitting for Lizzo to look this fabulous tonight. After a cruel and unfortunate series of headlines—in which she was either insulted for her weight or mistaken for another Black plus-size celebrity—the “About Damn Time” singer claimed her deserved star power on the MTV VMAs red carpet in a voluminous blue-black Jean Paul Gaultier couture gown. The singer is nominated in multiple categories at the 2022 VMAs, including Artist of the Year, Song of the Summer, Song of the Year, and Best Pop Video.
The glowing appearance comes shortly after comedian Aries Spears made disgusting comments about Lizzo’s body during a “Art of Dialogue” interview on YouTube. “I can’t get past the fact that she looks like the shit emoji,” he said, after the interviewer praised her music. He later added, alluding to himself, “When you funny and you got swagger and confidence and you decent-looking—I think I’m at least handsome—you get pussy. But a woman that’s built like a plate of mashed potatoes is in trouble.”
He then condemned the body-positivity movement as a whole, saying, “Y’all claim womanhood and about sisterhood and support for your sister, you know, when it comes to that ridiculous shit. But if you really gave a fuck, why wouldn’t you go, ‘Black girl, we love your confidence, boo boo, but this ain’t it. This ain’t it,’” he said. “Y’all jump on me for making jokes, but y’all won’t be fucking real and go, ‘Sister, put the eclair down. This ain’t it. It’s treadmill time.’”
The same day the video landed on YouTube, Lizzo posted a TikTok of herself working out, captioned, “Hope ur day is better than mine i feel like shit,” and also tweeted, “Crying myself to sleep was so fun last night I think I’ll do it again tonight ??.” Spears’s comments prompted significant backlash across TikTok and Twitter.
But her VMAs look—and her numerous body-positive interviews over the years—are a reminder Lizzo knows exactly who she is and whose opinion matters. In an interview for the cover of People in March 2022, Lizzo said, “Okay, we all know I’m fat. I know I’m fat. It doesn’t bother me. I like being fat, and I’m beautiful, and I’m healthy. So can we move on?”
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