'Kiss my a**': Lizzo defends g-string-baring basketball outfit

Popstar Lizzo has hit back at critics of the racy outfit she wore to a basketball game over the weekend which left her g-string-clad derriere entirely exposed.

For her courtside appearance at the Los Angeles Lakers v. Minnesota Timberwolves game on Sunday, the “Juice” hitmaker shocked her fellow audience members by sporting a black t-shirt mini-dress that featured a large round cutout over her bottom.

While many of her fans supported her backside-baring look, others branded it inappropriate and some called for her to banned from the Staples centre.

Lizzo to haters: ‘kiss my ass’

The very next day, the 31-year-old took part in an Instagram Live chat with her followers and, while she didn’t refer to the wardrobe incident nor the backlash specifically, her message was thinly veiled.

“You don't have to be like me, you need to be like you and never ever let somebody stop you, or shame you from being yourself,” the bare-faced “Good As Hell” singer said in an excerpt of the video shared by Instagram account @TheShadeRoom.

“This is who I've always been. Now everyone's looking at it… and your criticism can just remain your criticism. Your criticism has no effect on me, negative criticism has no stake in my life, no control over my life, over my emotions,” she continued.

“I'm the happiest I've ever been, I'm surrounded by love and I just want to spread that love – and also spread these cheeks. And you know what? If you really, really don't like my ass, you can kiss it. 'Cause kissing it makes it go away, I promise,” she said with a cheeky smile.

Elsewhere in the video, the Grammy nominee revealed that she’s unaffected by other people’s opinions and refuses to ‘censor’ herself just because she’s ‘suddenly famous’.

“It doesn't really matter what goes down on the internet, nothing really breaks my joy... I don't want to censor myself because everyone's looking at me now,” she explained.

Lizzo lets loose

Lizzo - born Melissa Viviane Jefferson - left the crowd stunned when she hopped to her feet and began dancing to her own song, “Juice,” that was blasting during a break in play.

As the jumbotron camera zoomed in on the star, she turned around and started twerking, revealing her outfit’s risqué element which prompted the cameraperson to quickly cut back to a shot of the cheerleaders.

The reaction to Lizzo’s daring duds was mixed, with some Twitter users pronouncing it inappropriate attire for an event with families and young children in attendance.

Others called for the NBA to slap the singer with a lifetime ban from all future basketball games, with 81 per cent of users polled by one account agreeing.

Others still saw it as an example of fat-phobia, with one user pointing out that Lizzo may not have received the same criticism if she had a different body type.

While one tweet was simply concerned about the star’s hygiene.

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