Allegations against the beloved singer have sent the mob running for their pitchforks. But away from Twitter, the reaction is very different
There’s an expression in journalism: “Twitter isn’t real life.”
It’s an important one, because it’s easy to forget that Twitter is a social network used by a fairly small proportion of the world, which deliberately gives you the impression that ‘everyone’ thinks something, when it’s actually just a hundred or so people who exist within a similar social sphere to you. You might think that ‘everyone’ is talking about a specific issue, but in reality, the kind of people who exist more offline than online will most likely not have heard of it, or if they have, couldn’t care less.
Never has this maxim felt truer than this month, when the news broke that popstar Lizzo was being sued by her former backup dancers over her conduct. The allegations are varied, but they include having fat-shamed employees, having taken employees to a strip club where they were made to watch a performer do something sexual with a banana and encouraged to join in with various exploits. She is also accused of failing to prevent religious and sexual discrimination in the workplace.
Lizzo vehemently denies any wrongdoing. In a statement posted last week, she wrote: “These last few days have been gut-wrenchingly difficult and overwhelmingly disappointing. My work ethic, morals, and respectfulness have been questioned. My character has been criticized. Usually I chose not to respond to false allegations but these are as unbelievable as they sound and too outrageous to not be addressed.”