Lizzo And Lil Nas X Had One Issue With ‘Black Out Tuesday’

Yesterday, social media was populated almost entirely by posts that only featured pure black images. This was of course because of Black Out Tuesday, a social media movement in support of George Floyd and Black Lives Matter. While this was well-meaning, Lizzo and Lil Nas X believe Black Out Tuesday actually had a negative unintended side-effect.

Lizzo noted in an Instagram video yesterday that those sharing Black Out Tuesday posts should not include the #blacklivesmatter hashtag, because a flood of black squares with the hashtag could prevent the spread of valuable information.

She said in her video, “Hey everybody: When you post your black square, please don’t use the hashtag #blacklivesmatter, because it is flooding the hashtag search with just black pictures instead of information. So, if you’re going to post a black square, just post a black square and say it, don’t hashtag it.” She also wrote alongside the video, “You can caption black lives matter, but don’t hashtag pls thnx. Hashtag #blackouttuesday instead.”

Lil Nas X shared a similar sentiment with a series of tweets yesterday, writing that Black Out Tuesday was slowing the momentum of the protests. He began, “i know y’all mean well but… bro saying stop posting for a day is the worst idea ever.” Replying to a response, he wrote, “it’s information that needs to be spread! the movement needs to be pushed forward! not silenced for a day.” He continued, “i just really think this is the time to push as hard as ever. i don’t think the movement has ever been this powerful. we don’t need to slow it down by posting nothing. we need to spread info and be as loud as ever.”

Dillon Francis responded to Lil Nas X with a screenshot of the all-black Instagram page for the #blacklivesmatter hashtag and wrote, “Yeah and now the hashtag is blank on Instagram because of everyone hashtagging black squares.” Lil Nas X replied to that, “this is not helping us. bro who the hell thought of this?? ppl need to see what’s going on.” He then wrote, “not tryna be announcing but what if we posted donation and petitions links on instagram all at the same time instead of pitch black images.”

Lizzo has been vocal following Floyd’s death, like a few days ago, when she shared a video message about the ongoing protests.

Lizzo is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.