A video of Dua Lipa throwing money on dancers while visiting a strip club following the Grammy Awards has opened up a conversation about feminism and cancel culture.
On Sunday, the New Rules singer attended a strip club alongside Lizzo, Lil Nas X and Rosalía.
Following the awards show after-party, Lizzo uploaded a video from the night to Instagram where Lipa could be seen dancing, throwing money and placing dollar bills inside a dancer’s underwear.
The video, which later circulated on Twitter, prompted backlash shortly after from some people who accused Lipa and the other attendees of being “anti-feminist” and contributing to a job that “literally allows you to objectify women”.
“Seeing Rosalía, Dua Lipa and Lil Nas X at a strip club throwing money to the strippers made me feel sick. Weren’t you all feminists?” one person wrote on Twitter.
The video also led the hashtag #dualipaisoverparty to begin trending on Twitter, with some suggesting that Lipa was “cancelled” as a result of the strip club visit.
However, hundreds of fans have since used the hashtag to come to the defence of the 24-year-old, and to point out the hypocrisy of the backlash.
“Sooo let me get this straight, you’re cancelling Dua because she went to a strip club, claiming she’s anti-feminism, the same feminism that shouldn’t stigmatise sex workers? Okay.” one person wrote on Twitter.
Another said: “Imagine trying to cancel a woman for going to a strip club and supporting other women. I don’t see y’all cancelling men for it. Sex work is real work, those women choose to work there, they deserve support too.”
“Cancelling a woman for supporting sex workers and doing what she wants. That’s what I call misogyny,” someone else tweeted.
The controversy also led some people to raise concerns about the toxicity and prevalence of “cancel culture”.
“Wait so women aren’t allowed to go to strip clubs now? Y’all don’t even know how toxic this cancel culture is getting. Y’all got nerve to cancel Dua Lipa for going to a strip club meanwhile there are men in the same industry that do this on a daily basis,” one person wrote.
As of now, the Don’t Start Now singer has not addressed the backlash. The Independent has contacted Dua Lipa’s representatives for comment.
