Perhaps nobody is enjoying life more these days than Lizzo.
On Wednesday, the “Truth Hurts” singer shared photos of herself in a golden bikini on the beach in Auckland, New Zealand on Instagram, and captioned it with a message of self-love.
In the past, Lizzo has said that she hates when people call her “brave” for embracing her curves, noting that there’s a “double-standard” when it comes to how the public discusses women’s bodies.
“I love you. You are beautiful. You can do anything. (Repeat),” she wrote alongside the new images.
Lizzo, whose given name is Melissa Jefferson, found herself at the center of controversy earlier this month when personal trainer Jillian Michaels criticized her body. The 31-year-old rapper has acknowledged in interviews that she has struggled with self-acceptance and is grateful that full-figured women are getting more of a platform these days.
“Why are we celebrating her body? Why does it matter?” Michaels asked in an interview with BuzzFeed News’ AM2DM. “It isn’t gonna be awesome if she gets diabetes. I’m just being honest.”
Michaels also expressed confusion about why anyone would expect her to care about Lizzo’s weight.
“I love her music, my kid loves her music,” she went on. “But there’s never a moment where I’m like, ‘I’m so glad that she’s overweight.’ Like why do I even care? Why is it my job to care about her weight?”
Lizzo has not responded to Michaels, though her fans took aim at the former “Biggest Loser” trainer on social media, accusing her of “body shaming” and being “fatphobic.” Michaels later clarified her comments in another interview with E! News.
“One, love yourself no matter what 100%, always advocated that. Have said repeatedly for decades now that everybody should be included, valued, they’re worthy, they’re beautiful. And, only from this place, can you be healthier, physically, emotionally in your relationships, with your work,” Michaels said. “The second narrative is that we cannot deny the inevitable fact that being overweight leads to heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and these things kill people.”
