Lizzo Gets Her Sports Illustrated Moment & Immediately Starts Body Debate

Lizzo scores her Sports Illustrated Swimsuit digital cover just as she reveals a 20-pound weight gain and asks fans if she’s officially a B##.

Lizzo just got her Sports Illustrated moment, and the internet can’t stop talking about what’s going on with her body at the same time.

Sports Illustrated Swimsuit named her the July 2026 digital cover star, according to SI Swimsuit, making it official that the Grammy winner has arrived in a space she once never imagined for herself.

She shot the cover with photographer Robin Harper at a private mansion and on a yacht in Miami, wearing pieces from her own Yitty Swim line alongside designs from Oisri.

“When I was younger, I saw SI Swimsuit and never imagined somebody with my body type would be on the cover,” she told the magazine.

The cover news dropped on the heels of Lizzo’s appearance at the SI Swimsuit runway show during Miami Swim Week on May 30, where she pulled double duty performing and walking the catwalk in a bold blue one-piece with “B-tch” printed across the front.

She also introduced her friend Tiffany Haddish to the crowd, and the whole night streamed on Hulu and Disney+. It was a victory lap moment for someone who’s spent the last three years completely rewriting her public narrative.

That story started in late 2023 when Lizzo, deep in depression after her former backup dancers filed a lawsuit against her, poured herself into Pilates and lifestyle changes.

What started as a way to process pain turned into a documented 60-pound “weight release,” a term she deliberately chose over “weight loss.”

By January 2025, she celebrated hitting a number on the scale she hadn’t seen since 2014, and confirmed she’d cut her body fat by 16%. She tried Ozempic briefly but told host Trisha Paytas on the Just Trish podcast that she ultimately dropped it, saying the science for her came down to calories and consistency.

The journey hasn’t stayed in one direction, though. In a recent Guardian interview, Lizzo revealed she’s put back on 20 pounds since hitting her goal weight last year. She didn’t frame it as a setback, though.

“I’ve gained 20 pounds since last year, so everyone can ask me about weight gain, too, if they’d like,” she said, adding that fluctuating is something her body has always done. She’s been vocal about body image pressures on women throughout her career, and this time was no different, calling out what she described as a system designed to make women feel bad about themselves no matter what they do.

Now that she’s back to 20 pounds, Lizzo posted a mirror selfie in a black, form-fitting outfit on X, asking her followers directly, “Am I officially considered a B## now?”

The post raised eyebrows across social media, with fans and commenters debating exactly where Lizzo’s body falls on the spectrum these days and whether the question was sincere or purely satirical.

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