- Thinking About It by Zee Feed
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- Lizzo, naur!
Lizzo being accused of sexual harassment and workplace bullying was not on my 2023 bingo card. The situation is still evolving, but at the time of writing: three dancers are suing Lizzo for subjecting them to a hostile work environment that included sexual harassment, body shaming, unwanted religious preaching, physically unsafe practices and wrongful termination. Lizzo has denied all accusations. I won’t get into the details of the accusations here – this is a good breakdown.
Regardless of whether the accusations are true or have any legal basis, they will do reputational damage. It will be almost impossible for Lizzo to retain the positive, wholesome public image she had before – the suggestion that she is a bully will linger in the background, likely forever.
I’ve noticed rumblings of a sentiment that Lizzo will be unfairly damaged. People are quick to point out that other celebrities have done far worse things that barely impacted their careers. That is 100% true, but the reasons why are nuanced. On one hand, as a fat, Black woman, her place is the entertainment industry is always conditional – she has and will always have to work harder and be better than her thin, white or male peers. Frustration with this cruel reality is coming through loud & clear from those defending her. I get it.
On the other hand, we’ve gotta be real: Lizzo’s brand was of self-love and body positivity. That’s what makes the accusations so shocking. Her music (a product) and her celebrity (also a product) are marketed as having inclusion and positivity as core values. Out of all the pop music options available to you right now, the values were an advertised differentiator asking you to choose her products over others.
These accusations make the public question whether Lizzo is as advertised.
If you sell and profit of a squeaky clean image, then you burden yourself with maintaining that image. Is that difficult to maintain over a long career? Maybe. That’s why lots of celebrities don’t choose it (or proactively try to move away from that image on their own terms and timeframe. Miley Cyrus comes to mind).
It’s really common to hear how ‘unfair’ this burden is when self-proclaimed feminist businesses and leaders fail. The Wing is a good example. It was a ‘feminist’ branded co-working space aiming to uplift women… so when female staff spoke out against the racism, classism and elitism within the business, founder Audrey Gelman was forced to resign and the business closed. She, and it, had betrayed the feminist beliefs that customers came for in the first place. Adam Neumann founded WeWork, a co-working space that does not market around moral values. He was forced out of his business for erratic behaviour and drug use… but there weren’t any core values to betray. He is now running another startup, backed by investor money; Audrey Gelman opened a homewares store in New York.
We have to accept that publicly espousing high standards means if you fall you will do so from a greater height. I don’t think that’s unfair at all.
It happens everywhere: Ned Fulmer, one of YouTube’s ‘Try Guys’, cheated on his wife. As a personal matter it shouldn’t affect his work… except that he professionally branded himself as a ‘wife guy’. Career over. I personally don’t buy into Taylor Swift’s branding as a feminist, but it’s believable enough to her hardcore fans that they wrote an open letter asking her to breakup with racist, misogynistic boyfriend Matty Healy. That was at the end of May. The threat to her brand was real enough that the relationship ended two weeks later. She takes her celebrity product very seriously.
Zee Feed is also marketed around having certain political and ethical values. If we suddenly started posted 50 clickbait articles a day, I would expect outrage from our audience – that’s not what they signed up for! In the meantime, a site like Pedestrian* can publish clickbaity headlines and a huge volume of stories with no harm to their reputation. Are these ‘ethical’ journalism practices? No, but they never made that commitment. If the Zee Feed audience thinks we fumbled our values, I don’t get to point at Pedestrian and say “b-b-but they do it too!” *Absolutely no shade, Pedestrian has revolutionised Australian media.
Back to Lizzo. There are references being made to how Chris Brown was able to keep his career, but that’s a harsh comparison imo. Cardi B is a more fitting parallel. Cardi has been convicted of assault, got into a physical fight with Nicki Minaj at NY Fashion Week in 2018, and has talked about robbing male clients when she was a sex worker. It hasn’t impacted her career because these are not betrayals of the values at the heart of her music and celebrity brand. Cardi is political, she is a feminist, but the focus is on sexual freedom, financial empowerment and a refusing to soften oneself.
She is as advertised.
Good stuff on Zee Feed rn:
Everyone I know is 100% behind the writers and actors on strike in Hollywood… which is why it was scary to realise what they are desperately trying to avoid is the reality that Australian creatives already work in everyday. Read this deep dive and make sure you watch more local film & TV! CLICK HERE TO READ.
Smart stuff on the Internet 💭
All the stuff I found on the web that made me think, smile, or have an ‘aha!’ moment. Spend your Sunday reading them – you'll be better off for it:
In ‘The Bear’, Why Can’t Carmy And Sydney’s Friendship Be Enough? on Junkee
“Platonic friendships between men and women are rarely viewed, at least on screen, as whole and fulfilling in and of themselves. In Sydney and Carmy’s case, why is their bond as creative collaborators and equal partners not seen as compelling or even valid without the subtext of romance by so many members of the audience? Why is their belief in one another so implausible without a romantic motive?”
Why Uber’s CEO Says He’ll Always Find a Reason to Say His Company Sucks on Wired
This uber-wealthy CEO interview made me want to scream, but it’s important we see these people are exposed for the callous idiots they so often are. Great to see a journalist actually push back on Dara Khosrowshahi’s claims too – a rare treat!
The Algorithm Chose @SubwaySessions. We Asked Her Our Burning Questions on The Cut
Another piece making me feel conflicted! Kristina Avakya is going viral for wearing crazy, ugly outfits on the subway, so The Cut interviewed her and its… yikes. “Each of Avakyan’s videos seems to unintentionally serve as a rabbit hole of sociopolitical implications… How could the clothes on one person’s body create a multi-platform avenue for discourse?”
And obsessed with the Women’s World Cup recaps by Sports With Logan and Jackie J – the drama! the devastation! the glory!