Judge Joe Brown went viral this week after going off on Lizzo in an interview with The Art of Dialogue on Monday, September 29.
The former TV court personality didn’t hold back in his criticism of the popular singer, branding the Grammy winner “grotesque” and even referring to her as “Hogzilla” while questioning her presence in pop culture.
Brown zeroed in on Lizzo’s 2022 Library of Congress moment, when she played President James Madison’s historic crystal flute. Rather than focus on her talent, the ex-judge went on a rant about her body.
“She shows up naked with a flimsy little piece of lingerie on, looking like a Hogzilla playing that glass flute,” he said, contrasting her outfit with the gowns and white-tie dress codes typical at the event. “Yes, she has talent, but what is she doing?”
From there, Brown veered into a rant about body image and media standards, using Sports Illustrated swimsuit models as his prime example. “You used to have…beautiful, toned bodies, looked like racehorses,” he said. “And now you got fat slobs on there that look like they couldn’t run from the front porch to the sidewalk.”
The comparisons didn’t stop there. He likened Lizzo to Miss Piggy and argued that modern portrayals of women glamorize unhealthy lifestyles. “They’re going to drop dead of a heart attack, strokes, or type 2 diabetes because of the problems. That’s not healthy,” he said.
Brown also claimed Lizzo’s confidence is a cover for deeper issues. “That woman detests and despises herself, but she broadcasts it…to convince others that she’s proud of it. She’s not. She needs help. Not adulation,” he argued. He even joked it wasn’t “fair to Gloria,” the hippo from Madagascar.
The rant — packed with animal references and dated beauty standards—quickly stirred outrage online. For her part, Lizzo, who’s built her career on self-expression and body positivity, hasn’t responded yet.