Dua Lipa recently opened up about the distressing experience of becoming a meme for her dancing on social media.
A clip from one of her 2017 concerts went viral, with fans comparing her movements to a pencil in a “pencil sharpener.”
In a new interview with The Guardian, the 28-year-old singer, who has just released her third studio album Radical Optimism, described the profound impact the jokes had on her.
She recalled feeling humiliated when people questioned her worthiness of winning the best new artist Grammy and criticized her stage presence.
The memes subjected her to heightened scrutiny as audiences dissected her talent while she was still in her early 20s.
Despite finding joy in performing and songwriting, she struggled as her work was scrutinized publicly.
This period of “humiliation” lasted for about two years until she found solace in completing her album Future Nostalgia and delivering a memorable performance of “Don’t Start Now” at the MTV Europe Music awards in 2020.
While she never allowed the criticism to affect her to the point of being unable to function, she admitted that it was a challenging time, particularly during the early stages of her career when she was still figuring out her identity as an artist.
