It was the tweet heard around the world.
“PEOPLE WHO ‘REVIEW’ ALBUMS AND DON’T MAKE MUSIC THEMSELVES SHOULD BE UNEMPLOYED,” Lizzo raged on Twitter on April 22 in a now-notorious tweet that has since been deleted.
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In a series of subsequent messages, the singer walked back some of her criticisms, making it clear that her ire was directed at a single writer who she felt unnecessarily targeted her new album, Cuz I Love You.
Lizzo has clarified the meaning and motivation behind the tweet storm in a new interview with Detroit’s Metro Times.
“My tweet was definitely misinterpreted, and now that I’m realizing that that’s a possibility, that my tweets can get misinterpreted like that, I really need to watch what I say,” she told the publication. “I never said we don’t need music journalists. I just felt like, man, I wished these asshole music writers that liked to do things for shock factor, I wish they could be in a studio for one day and write a song. I wish they knew what it felt like to tear down somebody’s baby and that’s all I meant.”
Lizzo went on to explain that she got caught up in her feelings when she sent the tweet. She also made it clear that those feelings are still pretty strong with regards to the source of her initial anger.
“I was just like, ‘Bitch, you’re just trying to be the one person gave me a bad review in a sea of good reviews,’ and I really, really, really regret…I was drunk, too. And I was at Coachella. I was just like, hot. Like, I have no excuse for saying something like that because I appreciate the perspective that music journalists and critics have, and I appreciate all the love and positivity. I just don’t like that one bitch. And if I ever saw her in the street, I would have words for her.”
