commercial<\/a> where you perform the jingle \u2014 I think it might be wacky enough that it goes past cringe and comes back around to funny.
I thought it was camp, and I am very, very camp. I don\u2019t care about being cringe \u2014 I think to be cringe is to be free.<\/p>\nOoh.
I\u2019m a diva \u2014 I am \u2014 and I feel like divas are a dying breed. A talented, confident, beautiful woman who\u2019s a bit of a flirt \u2014 from the Dolly Partons to the Mariah Careys to the Whitney Houstons, that\u2019s where I\u2019m at. And I don\u2019t think any of those women care about being cringe. They\u2019re in on it, and I am too.<\/p>\n
OK, this feels crucial: There have been moments in your career where you\u2019ve clearly been in on it. But there have been other moments where I wasn\u2019t so sure.
The general public, nine times out of 10, they think they\u2019re laughing at me. I\u2019m like, \u201cHoney, I\u2019m laughing with you laughing at me all the way to the bank.\u201d That\u2019s why I did a roast! That\u2019s why I can tweet at Azealia Banks and say, \u201cI like it when you call me Fat Lizzo.\u201d That\u2019s why the \u201cJuice\u201d memes don\u2019t offend me. I think people don\u2019t realize how much humor I\u2019m normally coming at the internet with. I\u2019m like, \u201cY\u2019all know I\u2019m joking, right?\u201d But they don\u2019t.<\/p>\n
How to maintain that joking attitude in the face of serious legal troubles?<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don\u2019t,\u201d Lizzo says. \u201cI don\u2019t think there\u2019s anything funny about that.\u201d<\/p>\n
The singer has denied her former dancers\u2019 claims, perhaps the most eyebrow-raising of which \u2014 that she shamed them over their weight \u2014 was dismissed by a judge last year. And she\u2019s vowed to keep fighting the rest of the case, which is ongoing.<\/p>\n
Asked how the experience has shaped her, Lizzo says, \u201cYou sit back for a second and learn from the situation, and then you grow and you make sure that moving forward, something like that doesn\u2019t happen again to you.\u201d<\/p>\n
How?<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t have the specifics,\u201d she says. \u201cBut I would say in general that there are things that come with being a boss and owning a business that an indie kid sometimes only learns the hard way. And I think that was important for me.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Lizzo](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1781093831_621_.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n
Lizzo and SZA at the 66th Grammy Awards in 2024.<\/p>\n
(Robert Gauthier \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n
Lizzo, who grew up in Houston, found her musical voice in Minneapolis, where she played in the city\u2019s underground rock and hip-hop scenes. In 2016 she moved to L.A. and signed a deal with Atlantic Records; \u201cCuz I Love You,\u201d her major-label debut, came out three years later and went platinum on the back of hits like \u201cJuice\u201d and the Hot 100-topping \u201cTruth Hurts.\u201d<\/p>\n
Things moved quickly after that \u2014 a collab with Cardi B, an Amazon reality show, the shapewear line Yitty \u2014 until things started to fall apart. Yet Lizzo says none of the controversy or backlash did anything to diminish her creative energy, which her new album\u2019s high points might lead you to believe.<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t Make Me Love U\u201d is a pitch-perfect riff on the synthed-up pop-soul of late-\u201980s Tina Turner, while \u201cShe Stole My Man\u201d puts ringing Cure-style guitars over a crisp new wave groove. Overall, \u201cBitch\u201d leans more rock than R&B, a shift Lizzo\u2019s longtime producer, Ricky Reed, attributes in part to an appearance she made with the band Incubus at the Hollywood Bowl in 2023.<\/p>\n
\u201cI remember after that she was like, \u2018Man, we should do a punk song or something proggy,\u2019\u201d Reed says. \u201cShe was in a band like that in high school so we just started very unabashedly looking at her true influences and her true passions.\u201d<\/p>\n
Though the LP closes with the buoyant \u201cGoodmorning!\u201d \u2014 \u201cYou know the way Jesus turned water to wine?\u201d she sings, \u201cWell, I\u2019m-a turn water to Pedialyte\u201d \u2014 \u201cBitch\u201d goes light on the type of uplifting empowerment anthems that made Lizzo a star.<\/p>\n
\u201cPlease write that in your article,\u201d Lizzo tells me. \u201cI used to write all my songs with silver linings, and I gave myself permission to have no silver linings on this album.\u201d As examples, she points to \u201cLike a Crime,\u201d a mournful acoustic ballad, and the woozy \u201cToo Nice,\u201d both of which describe betrayals of her trust.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverybody got real quiet in the room when I showed them \u2018Too Nice\u2019 \u2014 like, \u2018Whoa, Melissa, don\u2019t pull out the 9,\u2019\u201d she says with a laugh.<\/p>\n
Reed says that on this album, \u201cMaybe there\u2019s no bumper-sticker lyric, or maybe there\u2019s no T-shirt lyric. Maybe it\u2019s not gonna be relatable to all her fans. But she had to say what\u2019s true for her right now. We had to take care of Lizzo first.\u201d<\/p>\n
The sun is setting, and it\u2019s starting to get dark inside Lizzo\u2019s house.<\/p>\n
The singer, who\u2019s been in a fairly private relationship for years with comedian Myke Wright, moved in here not long ago and hasn\u2019t quite finished decorating yet. Her Grammys sit on a shelf along with some other awards and a photo of her at \u201cSaturday Night Live.\u201d But the furniture is still spare enough that when she laughs, the sound reverberates off the walls.<\/p>\n
![\"Lizzo](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1781093832_602_.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n
Lizzo performs in February at the Blue Note in Los Angeles.<\/p>\n
(Christopher Polk \/ Billboard via Getty Images)<\/p>\n
After a decade, does L.A. feel like home?<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s wild, because it doesn\u2019t,\u201d she says. \u201cI think people who move to industry cities for industry don\u2019t call it home for some odd reason. It\u2019s like I\u2019ve been at work for 10 years.\u201d She\u2019s grateful to be here, she adds \u2014 perfect weather, great food, easy access to folks in show business. But she thinks \u201call the time\u201d about where else she might live someday.<\/p>\n
\u201cI fantasize about living in Texas again,\u201d she says. \u201cI fantasize about Japan a lot, and I fantasize about Paris. I fantasize about Ghana. I fantasize about New Zealand.\u201d<\/p>\n
You gave a pretty revealing interview<\/a> to New York magazine last year where you talked about depression and about wanting to leave your career behind. Do you regret it?
I\u2019ll say this: I did a lot of press last year when I was in a very vulnerable place. I really needed someone to talk to, and I think I was doing that with journalists and podcasters when I should have been doing that with my therapist. It\u2019s fine, but reflecting on that now is so interesting for me, because I\u2019m like, Oh my gosh, baby, you were hurting.<\/p>\nDoes it make you sad to think about that moment in your life?
No, I\u2019m so grateful \u2014 I learned so much in 2025.<\/p>\n
You\u2019ve had a couple songs that did all the big things a song can do. Do you think you\u2019ll have more of those?
I know I don\u2019t need any more of those. Haters try to talk about charts, and I\u2019m like, \u201cGirl, I did that.\u201d So once you\u2019ve done it, now it\u2019s like, what actually makes me happy? What do I really want to do?<\/p>\n
The upside of a Grammy or a No. 1 record is clear. What\u2019s the downside?
You gain a lot of secret enemies. I understand every rapper now \u2014 I\u2019m like, Tee Grizzley, I get you, bro. People are just mad that you\u2019re successful and mad they\u2019re not a part of it. Even the media \u2014 you know, you\u2019re one of \u2019em \u2014 they love a rise but they love a fall. It\u2019s salacious, it\u2019s exciting, it\u2019s sticky. Then everyone stands back like \u201cThe Hunger Games\u201d and sees if you can get back up again. And you have to get up on your own. No one\u2019s giving you a hand \u2014 not society, not the media, nobody. Then, once you\u2019re up, people might lift you on their shoulders again.<\/p>\n
Where are you in that arc?
I believe I\u2019m up.<\/p>\n
Is there anything I could have asked you today that you would\u2019ve lied about?
Probably me and my man\u2019s relationship. I wouldn\u2019t have lied \u2014 I would\u2019ve just been like [bats eyelashes], \u201cNo comment.\u201d If you ask my friends or my family, I\u2019m a really bad liar \u2014 like Pinocchio level. So I\u2019ve learned to just be like, what\u2019s the best thing I can say about this that doesn\u2019t answer the question? But I like that trait about me \u2014 I like that I can\u2019t lie. Liars kind of scare me.<\/p>\n
Seems beneficial for an artist.
I\u2019m too real \u2014 to my detriment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Lizzo\u2019s assistant is piling suitcases in the entryway of the musician\u2019s home in Los Angeles when suddenly her…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":354580,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[20977,144558,73493,144562,144559,48,52,51,111565,47,50,49,88610,1459,144564,592,144560,144561,144565,144563,72],"class_list":["post-354579","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-baby","tag-bitch","tag-chili","tag-friend-sza","tag-inspiring-thing","tag-la","tag-la-headlines","tag-la-news","tag-lizzo","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-headlines","tag-los-angeles-news","tag-new-album","tag-part","tag-past-cringe","tag-people","tag-pickle-juice","tag-ricky-reed","tag-sponsorship-deal","tag-stan","tag-year"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/354579","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=354579"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/354579\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/354580"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=354579"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=354579"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=354579"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Lizzo](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1781093831_509_.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n