Beyoncé appears to be reacting to the new lawsuit filed against Lizzo by scrubbing the “Truth Hurts” singer from her live set, or is something else going on?
It was about a month ago that Lizzo took to her Instagram to share her emotional reaction to hearing and seeing her name listed among some of the most influential, groundbreaking and iconic Black female artists of all time. On Tuesday, though, Lizzo’s name went unheard.
It came during Beyoncé’s performances of “Break My Soul (The Queens Remix)” during her Renaissance World Tour, where the singer would drop the names of many of the artists who’ve influenced her over the years. This time, though, Queen Bey skipped Lizzo, per fan videos, and instead said Erykah Badu’s last name no less than four times — though Lizzo’s name still appears on-screen.
It’s also worth noting that Lizzo’s was not the only name Beyoncé skipped while repeating “Badu” four times. She also did not say (even as their names appeared on the big screen behind her) former Destiny’s Child bandmate Kelly Rowland, Lauryn Hill, and Roberta Flack.
Many fans are speculating that the quad-drop of Badu’s name is in response to the latter seemingly shading Bey’s style over the weekend. Badu dipped into her Instagram Stories on Sunday, per HIpHopDX, to share a snap of Beyoncé and daughter Blue in matching outfits and wide-brimmed hats, a signature style of Badu’s for years now.
“Hmmm,” Badu wrote with the image, followed by a shot of herself in a similar hat. “I guess I’m everyone’s stylist,” she continued, “favorite chrome mirror hat.” Beyoncé has not directly responded to Badu’s posts.
As for Lizzo, her omission comes on the heels of a lawsuit filed by three former backup dancers who alleged a series of awful working conditions between 2021 and spring of this year, when they were either fired or “forced to resign due to unbearable circumstances,” per TMZ.
The women — Arianna Davis, Crystal Williams, and Noelle Rodriguez — allege multiple violations of California workplace codes, including feeling obligated to attend a nude show and even touch the performers. One claimed the singer weaponized her known eating disorder against her. You can read more about their allegations over on TMZ.
Lizzo has not responded at all to the lawsuit or allegations, and it’s certainly not confirmed that the suit is why Beyoncé skipped her name during her list of influential artists, but the timing was too much for many, with fans quick to notice and react.
Some were quick to assume Beyoncé intentionally dropped Lizzo’s name within hours of the lawsuits going public in response to the news, while others think it was just a coincidence — evidenced by the omission of other names — and Bey was actually trying to shade Badu.
We’ll have to keep paying attention to future stops to see if this tweaked version continues, she makes more changes, or reverts back to the original take of just listing all the names straight up.
