Lizzo revealed she collapsed from a panic attack after returning to Los Angeles in October 2023 as the weight of a lawsuit.
Lizzo suffered a panic attack and spiraled into depression after returning to Los Angeles in October 2023.
Her bout with mental health came months after being hit with a lawsuit from three former backup dancers accusing her of harassment and discrimination.
The Hip-Hop artist, known for her chart-topping anthem “About Damn Time,” said the emotional toll of the allegations didn’t fully register until she landed back in the U.S. after a vacation in Japan.
“When I was in Japan, I was doing the best I can, but there was a huge scandal (and) I was dealing with a lot. When I touched down in Los Angeles, it didn’t hit me how deeply affected I was because I had been trying to be happy for everyone else (on holiday),” Lizzo said during an appearance on the On Purpose with Jay Shetty podcast.
The lawsuit, filed in August 2023, accused the 36-year-old of sexual, racial and religious harassment, weight-shaming, disability discrimination and fostering a toxic work environment.
Lizzo has denied all claims and sought to have the case dismissed. But the emotional impact was immediate once she returned home.
“I got in LA and had my first panic attack ever. I was in the car coming home from the airport,” she said.
She described the moment as physically overwhelming.
“I had this thought, I was like, ‘Everybody hates me. Everybody hates me for something that isn’t true, but at the end of the day, because of the position I’m in, everybody hates me, and there’s nothing you can do about it,’” she recalled. “I got into the house, I could barely walk, and I collapsed by my bed and was like, ‘Oh s**t.’ I couldn’t breathe… from then on, I have been in a state of depression because I didn’t know how to fix it.”
Lizzo admitted her usual coping strategies failed her. The weight of public scrutiny combined with the legal battle left her feeling hopeless. At her lowest, she said she lost the will to live.
But a brief encounter with supporters during a rare public outing helped her begin to recover. She said the interaction was “life-saving” and inspired the title of her upcoming album, Love in Real Life.
A judge later dismissed the weight-shaming and disability discrimination claims in the lawsuit but allowed the other allegations to proceed.
