Skip to main content

Trending

  • Fox/Dominion Lawsuit
  • Meta
  • Twitter

Social Media Menu

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Utility Navigation

  • Take Action
  • Search
  • Donate

Media Matters for America

Main navigation

  • News & Analysis
  • Research & Studies
  • Audio & Video
  • Archives

Media Matters for America

  • Nav
  • Search

Main navigation

  • News & Analysis
  • Research & Studies
  • Audio & Video
  • Archives

Trending

  • Fox/Dominion Lawsuit
  • Meta
  • Twitter

Utility Navigation

  • Take Action
  • Search
  • Donate

Social Media Menu

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
Lizzo playing the flute!
Andrea Austria / Media Matters

Right-wing media attack Lizzo with demeaning and fatphobic smears because she played James Madison’s crystal flute

Daily Wire pundit Matt Walsh accused Lizzo of “simply desecrating American history just for the sake of it”

Written by Camden Carter & Natalie Mathes

Research contributions from Monica Rodriguez, Alex Paterson, Jason Campbell, Eric Hananoki & Beatrice Mount

Published 09/29/22 6:56 PM EDT

Updated 09/30/22 12:41 PM EDT

Share

  • Email
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Print

Comment

  • Comments

Right-wing media and figures had a meltdown over Grammy Award-winning musician Lizzo playing James Madison’s crystal flute this week, attacking the singer personally and claiming “woke” elites organized the performance to undermine America’s Founding Fathers. For example, The Daily Wire’s Matt Walsh went as far as to call Lizzo a “twerking degenerate” and a “morbidly obese weirdo in a thong,” alleging that the performance was “a form of racial retribution” and a “purposeful act of degradation.” 

Lizzo, who is also a classically trained flutist, was invited by the Library of Congress to visit its collection of 1,700 flutes while she was on tour in Washington, D.C. After allowing her to play a crystal flute previously owned by Madison, the fourth president of the United States, the library agreed Lizzo could perform with it during her show later in the week. On September 27, with supervision from Library staff and the Capitol Police, Lizzo briefly became the first person in history to actually perform with the flute.

Lizzo’s performance represented a symbolic moment as well. Madison, the former owner of the flute, enslaved over 100 people on his Virginia plantation. Notably, the flute was lent to Lizzo by the 14th Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden, the first woman and the first African American to lead the national library.

Right-wing media ignored this history and context for Lizzo’s groundbreaking performance, however, and responded instead with hysterical and baseless attacks.

Conservative pundits launched a hate campaign against Lizzo, accusing her of “desecrating American history just for the sake of it”

Numerous right-wing figures expressed their disgust and outrage at Lizzo’s performance, including referring to her as a “morbidly obese weirdo” and claiming that she “isn't talented.” 

  • The Daily Wire’s Matt Walsh:
A screenshot of a tweet from Matt Walsh about Lizzo playing the flute
A screenshot of a tweet from Matt Walsh about Lizzo playing the flute
A screenshot of a tweet from Matt Walsh about Lizzo playing the flute
  • Conservative pundit Ben Shapiro:
  • Trump loyalist and America First Policy Institute Ambassador Nick Adams:
A screenshot of a tweet from Nick Adams about Lizzo playing the flute
  • Pro-Trump conspiracy theorist Jack Posobiec:
A screenshot of a tweet from Jack Posobiec about Lizzo playing the flute
  • Newsmax contributor and former Trump Lawyer Jenna Ellis:
  • Conservative commentator Greg Price:
A screenshot of a tweet from Greg Price about Lizzo playing the flute
  • Right-wing Twitter personality Ian Miles Cheong:
A screenshot of a tweet from Ian Miles Cheong about Lizzo playing the flute
A screenshot of a tweet from Ian Miles Cheong about Lizzo playing the flute
  • Conservative podcast host Wayne DuPree:
A screenshot of a tweet from Wayne DuPree about Lizzo playing the flute
  • The Federalist correspondent Margot Cleveland:
A screenshot of a tweet from Margot Cleveland about Lizzo playing the flute

Right-wing figures also alleged that the performance was an attack by the “woke” left 

Right-wing figures and media outlets accused Lizzo’s performance of being “a form of racial retribution” and part of the left’s agenda to destroy the country. They continued to try and weaponize language around “woke culture” claiming that the performance was pushing “politics and wokeness.” 

  • Newsmax host Jenn Pellegrino complained that “sometimes you just want to enjoy a song or an award show or a baseball game without having politics and wokeness shoved in your face.”
Video file

Citation From the September 28, 2022, edition of Newsmax's Prime News

  • The Daily Wire’s Matt Walsh
Matt Walso Lizzo tweet 5
A screenshot of a tweet from Matt Walsh about Lizzo playing the flute
A screenshot of a tweet from Matt Walsh about Lizzo playing the flute
  • One America News’ host Kara McKinney claimed that Lizzo played the flute “as America burns,” comparing the moment to the historical story of Nero playing a fiddle while watching Rome burn. McKinney said the performance was an example of “degenerate” culture and showcased the “soft totalitarianism” of “so-called liberal democracy.”
Video file

Citation From the September 28, 2022, edition of OAN's The Tipping Point

  • Neo-nazi collaborator Jack Posobiec:
Jack Posobiec Lizzo tweet 2
  • Cada Tarde’s Carines Moncada:
Video file

Citation From the September 28, 2022, edition of Cada Tarde con Carines Moncada y Agustin Acosta

[Translation by Media Matters staff]

CARINES MONCADA (CO-HOST): Agustín, they released a legendary 200-year-old crystal flute for an African American singer. I think she's a singer. The truth is that I am ignorant of today's music — intentionally. I'm not interested in knowing what the lady sings. This is a girl, I don't know how old she is. Her name is Lizzo. I assume she's very popular. The place was packed, so she could play two notes with it. This is not just any flute. The Library of Congress, Agustín Acosta, removed the flute that belonged to Founding Father and President James Madison, so that this little girl could play it. And when I say that I come from the future, in Venezuela, a lot of things were done that didn't have to be done, because that's part of socialism, and you know it very well, of erasing history, that eventually, when we talk about the 200-year-old flute of the Founding Father, we don't talk about what the flute means, we're going to talk about what she did, she played the flute, OK. And the purpose is to remind you that nothing that matters to you has any value. They degrade our history in this way. And then, if I talk about this, they call me a racist. 

...

But what happened at this concert seems like total disrespect to me, and this government is allowing it. They dismantle all the fundamental bases and precepts to implement the models they want, and there will come a time when our children will not know the real story.

  • QAnon supporter and failed GOP congressional candidate Lavern Spicer:
Lavern Spicer Lizzo tweet
  • The Daily Wire:
A screenshot of a tweet from The Daily Wire about Lizzo playing the flute
  • Far-right conspiracy theorist Paul Joseph Watson:
A screenshot of a tweet from Paul Joseph Watson about Lizzo playing the flute

Conservative figures fueled the faux outrage machine by claiming that Madison was “rolling in his grave”

Several right-wing figures asserted that James Madison and other Founding Fathers would be rolling in their graves if they saw Lizzo’s performance:

  • One America News’ anchor Mike Dinow claimed that “Lizzo has the Founding Fathers rolling over in their graves.”
Video file

Citation From the September 28, 2022, edition of OAN's One America News

  • BlazeTV Host Sara Gonzales
Sara Gonzales Lizzo tweet
  • New York Post columnist and Fox News contributor Miranda Devine:
Miranda Devine Lizzo tweet

Update (9/30/22): This piece has been updated with a clip from the September 28 edition of Cada Tarde translated by Media Matters staff.
 

The Latest

  1. QAnon show hosts say Tucker Carlson brought “a lot of great, great attention to our movement”

    Video & Audio 03/22/23 4:27 PM EDT

  2. Facts trump Ben Shapiro's feelings on social contagion theory of trans identity

    Article 03/22/23 3:20 PM EDT

  3. Charlie Kirk says Chinese military installations are using TikTok to “make our children more likely to be trans”

    Video & Audio 03/22/23 2:26 PM EDT

  4. On YouTube, Steven Crowder: “If you see a Black American, there's a 50-50 shot that they don't know if they think you have the right to exist”

    Video & Audio 03/22/23 12:49 PM EDT

  5. Charlie Kirk calls on Gov. Ron DeSantis to make a “sanctuary state” for Donald Trump

    Video & Audio 03/22/23 12:47 PM EDT

Pagination

  • Current page 1
  • …
  • Next page ››

In This Article

  • Twitter

    Twitter-MMFA-Tag.png
  • Ben Shapiro

    Ben-Shapiro-MMFA-Tag.png
  • Jack Posobiec

    Jack-Posobiec-MMFA-Tag.png
  • The Daily Wire

    daily wire_mmfatag
  • Matt Walsh

    Matt Walsh tag
  • The Federalist

    the-federalist_mmfa_tag
  • Newsmax

    newsmax_mmfatag
  • One America News Network

    One-America-News-Network-MMFA-Tag.png
  • Paul Joseph Watson

    Paul Joseph Watson
Comments
0 Comments
Share Count
0 Shares

Related

  1. Right-wing media figures try and fail to clock Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s patriotism for Drag Race appearance

    Article 02/13/20 4:29 PM EST

  2. Daily Wire host complains that not enough conservatives are upset as him about Lizzo playing James Madison's flute

    Video & Audio 09/29/22 3:47 PM EDT

  3. Steven Crowder calls Lizzo and Megan Thee Stallion “fat and disgusting,” adding “fat whores just gel together in my head”

    Video & Audio 10/13/21 10:55 AM EDT

Media Matters for America

Sign up for email updates

Footer menu

  • About
  • Contact
  • Corrections
  • Submissions
  • Jobs
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms & Conditions

Social Media Menu

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

© 2023 Media Matters for America