Lizzo needed a “gap year” to decompress from a shocking lawsuit filed by her three former backup dancers in August 2023.

On Monday, April 7, the “Still Bad” vocalist appeared on podcast “On Purpose with Jay Shetty,” and recalled the trying time in her life and her career reemergence. While the musician is preparing to release her fifth album, “Love in Real Life,” she was sued nearly two years ago for sexual harassment and creating a hostile workplace, among other accusations. The four-time Grammy winner was reportedly dropped from the lawsuit last December.

Around the 14-minute mark of the video below, Lizzo explained that she held her tongue for two years to “protect my peace,” although the decision offended those who wanted an explanation.

40 minutes into the interview, Lizzo admitted to feeling “depressed” that she was considered a “fake character” due to the lawsuit, although she couldn’t “blame” or “judge” people for misinterpreting her.

“I take the fact that I mean something to people very seriously. I take it to heart and it's why I have moved the way that I have moved my entire career,” Lizzo said.

“I think when it was out of my control and someone else could tell a story about me that wasn’t true and people believed it, it crushed me,” she continued, adding, “I can't just let any author into my life who can make me a villain. I can’t do that anymore. 

“‘Cause I’m the author and I’m taking back my narrative by continuing to tell my story from me, and thank you for giving me the opportunity to do that,” she told Shetty.

Lizzo, who will soon star as Sister Rosetta Tharpe in her first film, spoke about previous suicide ideation she had at the height of her depression during a comeback concert in Los Angeles last month.

“I was so heartbroken by the world and so deeply hurt that I didn’t want to live anymore, and I was so deeply afraid of people that I didn’t want to be seen. Eventually I got over that fear,” she told her crowd at Wiltern Theatre.