Dua Lipa addresses social media hate over viral dance routine: ‘It was kind of unfair’
Video of the singer dancing at a 2017 concert went viral
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Dua Lipa has addressed a viral clip of her dancing on stage, speaking out against the “toxic currency” of social media.
A clip of the singer dancing at one of her 2017 concerts was turned into a meme, with fans sharing the video widely on social media.
Some critics called the choreography – which saw Lipa moving her hips back and forth while standing still – “lazy” and “uninspired”.
Speaking about the widespread attention that the clip received, earlier today (28 April) the Grammy winning artist told NPR: “Social media just kind of took over.
“There was this one little dance routine that I did when I was performing, and people took that one little snippet and decided to base my whole stage presence and who I was as a performer on stage [on that].”
The 26-year-old continued: “I think at that point, there [were] moments of self-doubt, even though it was kind of unfair because a lot of the people that had sent in those messages or were saying things online actually hadn’t been to a show.
“Social media is kind of run on this toxic currency of ‘who can make people laugh at the expense of others.’”
Lipa said that “of course, it got to me”, adding: “I was at a point where I was so happy, I was doing everything that I wanted to, but then there were people who made me feel like maybe I wasn’t good enough or I didn’t deserve to be there, I wasn’t cut out to be a musician.”
The singer added that public perception no longer bothers her.
“I realised that what anyone says doesn’t actually matter,” she said. “It was something that I learned during the period of writing Future Nostalgia – I was able to shut people out. Now, if anybody says anything, it doesn’t even bother me.”
Lipa is currently on her worldwide Future Nostalgia tour, which has received high praise.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments