Lizzo said Sunday it’s time we cancelled the term “cancel culture.”
“This may be a random time to say this but it’s on my heart.. cancel culture is appropriation,” the pop star tweeted.”There was real outrage from truly marginalized people and now it’s become trendy, misused and misdirected.
“I hope we can phase out of this & focus our outrage on the real problems.”
The term “cancel culture” exploded following the #MeToo and BLM movements of recent years – but the idea of “cancelling” someone has been around for many years (see: Dixie Chicks, 2003).
The phrase became part of the Black vernacular after Nile Rodgers wrote “Your Love Is Cancelled” for Chic’s 1981 album Take It Off and Wesley Snipes' character said "cancel that b**ch" in 1991’s New Jack City.
More recently, right wing groups and conservative politicians have blamed “cancel culture” when controversial views are silenced.
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Lizzo was the target of a “cancel” campaign last year when disability advocates criticized her for using “spaz” in her song “Grrrls.” (According to the U.S.-based Merriam-Webster dictionary, “spaz” is an “often offensive” slang word for “spastic” and is used describe “one who is inept.”)
Lizzo quickly announced that she put out a new version of the song without the “harmful word” and said the move was “the result of me listening and taking action.”