Lizzo has been honored as TIME magazine’s Entertainer of the Year.
“ARE.. YOU.. NOT.. ENTERTAINED?!?” she wrote in a celebratory Instagram post on Wednesday (Dec. 11). “Thank you [Time] for naming me Entertainer of the Year.”
Adding on to the newfound honor, the “Truth Hurts” mega-star is also currently nominated for eight Grammy Awards and recently took home the Video of the Year and Album of the Year trophies at this year’s BET Soul Train Awards.
“I’ve been doing positive music for a long-ass time, then the culture changed,” she told TIME. “There were a lot of things that weren’t popular but existed, like body positivity, which at first was a form of protest for fat bodies and Black women, and has now become a trendy, commercialized thing. Now I’ve seen it reach the mainstream. Suddenly I’m mainstream!”
In her TIME interview, Lizzo reflected on her meteoric year, after being in the music industry for a decade. She said the newfound fame has also brought on widespread critics.
“When people challenge my talent, they challenge whether I deserve to be here,” she said. “They challenge my blackness. I’m like, ‘Oh! I can easily just let your ass know right now in 132 characters why you’re f**king wrong.’”
Over the weekend, the body positivity advocate felt some of the heat when she wore a backless dress to a Los Angeles Lakers game and twerked in a thong courtside.
“Who I am, and the essence of me and the things I choose to do as a grown ass woman, can inspire you to do the same. You don’t have to be like me. You need to be like you,” she said on Instagram. “And never ever let somebody stop you or shame you from being yourself. This is who I’ve always been. Now everyone’s lookin’ at it, and your criticism can just remain your criticism. Your criticism has no effect on me. Negative criticism has no stake in my life.”
“I’m the happiest I’ve ever been… I’m surrounded by love, and I just wanna spread that love, and also spread these cheeks!” she continued. “And if you really, really don’t like my ass, you can kiss it.”