Lizzo has yet again pissed off people for no good reason. On Tuesday in Washington D.C. at an arena full of her fans, the singer made history by playing a crystal flute that was once owned by former President James Madison. It was loaned to her by the Library of Congress.
Lizzo has been playing the flute since grade school and was excited to play Madison’s 200-year-old instrument. Onstage, she stated “it’s like playing out of a wine glass” and asked the audience to “be patient.” Shortly after she started, she twerked with a look of sheer amazement on her face.
However, it didn’t take long for conservatives to express disdain. The notoriously racist Ben Shapiro tweeted: “This Lizzo-flute controversy is a perfect example of what I have termed Face Tattoo Phenomenon™: the phenomenon whereby someone does something deliberately controversial in an attempt to draw attention, and then acts offended when you notice.”
Another conservative personality, Greg Price, stated: “The Library of Congress really took out a 200-year old flute that belonged to James Madison just so Lizzo could twerk with it. They degrade our history and then call you racist if you actually value it.”
Somehow, Matt Walsh did the mental gymnastics to call Lizzo’s performance “a form of racial retribution, according to the woke Left” while Andrew McCarthy chimed in to share that “everyone involved in the decision to allow Lizzo to twerk while playing James Madison’s flute needs to be deported.”
Ultimately, the purpose of these bigots to disparage Black people any chance they get. The fact is that James Madison’s flute was sitting in a case collecting dust for two centuries and Lizzo bolstered the importance of its existence.
The performer knows that relishing in her fearlessness will continue to garner controversy—and she wholeheartedly welcomes it.