Dua Lipa speaks out on the ‘humiliating’ experience after being mercilessly mocked in viral dancing meme: ‘I had to take myself off Twitter’

Dua Lipa has revealed she had to take a break from social media after a clip of her dancing became a meme.

The pop icon, 28, has spoken out about the time a clip of her dancing on stage at a concert in 2017 went viral and fans compared her to a pencil in a ‘sharpener’.

Dua has just released her third studio album Radical Optimism and said she found it ‘humbling’ during a candid chat with The guard.

One particular comment sparked even more cruel troll comments, writing: ‘I love her lack of energy, go girl, don’t give us anything!’, under the YouTube clip of her New Rules live performance at the 2018 BRIT Awards.

The catchphrase subsequently became a recurring meme – and was also used to comment on other celebrities such as Blackpink, Taylor Swift and Addison Rae.

“When people danced that clip of me online and made it into a meme, and when I won the Grammy for Best New Artist and people said, ‘She doesn’t deserve it, she doesn’t have stage presence, she’s not going to do that’ stick around” , she said.

‘Those things were painful. It was humiliating. I had to remove myself from Twitter.”

The Don’t Start Now singer explained that performing and writing songs made her “the happiest” but that it made her “really upset” because people didn’t seem to notice what she had done.

‘In front of the public eye I was figuring out who I was as an artist, as a performer. That all happened when I was 22, 23 years old and still growing up. You have to build a strong skin. You have to be resilient,” Dua added.

The Grammy winner also said that while it never reached a point where she “couldn’t get out of bed,” it was especially when her emotions felt “the most heightened.”

But as Dua built her name, reputation and skills, the British-Albanian star said she felt “a real rush” after her 2019 single Don’t Start Now was released.

The Barbie actress didn’t shy away from admitting that many people started to change their opinions about her acting skills after that, making her feel like she had finally proven them wrong.

Dua also discussed with Apple her dilemmas with fame and how she deals with hateful comments, admitting that her rise to fame hasn’t been easy over the years.

The singer joined Zane Lowe on Apple Music 1 to talk about her latest era and body of work, Radical Optimism.

Discussing her newfound confidence, the Houdini singer recalled, “Finally, I’m at a place in my career where I feel really confident. It took me so long to reach this place.

‘We do everything. This is the first time I’m talking about something, the album title, the record, the songs individually.

She further admits to Daan that writing songs is also a form of therapy for her. ‘Writing these songs is a form of therapy for me.

“It’s just such a vulnerable thing to do, to write your thoughts down in a melody and then let other people digest it.

The pop icon also revealed that she knew from the start what the title of her album would be.

‘I knew the title of ‘Radical Optimism’. It was a term my friend told me. I did an interview with him and he said, “You know what the world needs? Is radical optimism.”

“And I lived with that thought for so long, and as time went on, it became more and more common.”

The beauty continued to talk about how she has dealt with a huge amount of criticism since she became famous.

‘I think everything happens in phases and waves. There may be a moment when people really love you and you feel so supported and you think, oh, this is great.

‘Especially in the beginning. I was doing interviews and people were saying, “How do you deal with hate?” And I’m like, “I’m not getting any hate. It’s great.”

“Then that changed very quickly and I remember even when it was the Grammys nomination for best new artist and I won it, there were people online saying, she doesn’t deserve it.

“She has no stage presence. She can’t do this. She’s not well equipped to do it, she won’t be here next year.

‘There were many. That fueled me in a way. I try not to use criticism as revenge.

“So I guess when I see or feel or read something that goes against what I know is coming, or what I’ve done, or how hard I’ve worked or whatever it is, I just take a step back. and I just go, okay, this is all background noise and I just have to stay on my path.

“Because every time someone doubted me, I proved them wrong.

“And for me, I think, this fuels me. This forces me to get better, to work hard. And I get a kick out of proving people wrong.