Lizzo music video misrepresented as 'woke' Disney 'Hercules' remake

"The new Muses from Disney's live action remake Hercules," says text over the video, which was shared March 30, 2025 on X.

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Screenshot from X taken April 11, 2025

The clip shows women of diverse racial backgrounds wearing gold dresses and dancing atop columns built in the ionic style of ancient Greece. Their outfits resemble those worn by the muses, the singing narrators from Disney's original animated film "Hercules," based loosely on the ultra-strong son of the god Zeus in Greek mythology.

Across X and other platforms, outraged posts denounced the alleged depiction of the characters as "woke" and out of touch with the 1997 movie.

"Disney was once a benchmark of family values, heartwarming stories, brightness of the human spirit and a beacon for children growing up in search of meaning for their lives ..." says one post sharing the clip on X.

"If you thought that the woke Snow White was bad, meet the new muses from Disney's live action remake of …. Hercules," adds another.

"@AlphaFox78," a pro-Donald Trump influencer on X who CNN reported took money from a Russian propagandist to share a falsified video alleging election fraud in the 2024 presidential race, also amplified the clip.

The posts come amid an aggressive push from the Trump administration to dismantle racial justice programs and purge American society of efforts to promote diversity, equity and inclusion. The administration is investigating Disney and its subsidiary ABC for promoting race and gender diversity.

Other Disney productions -- including recent live-action versions of "Snow White," whose lead actress faced scrutiny for posting "Free Palestine" on social media, and "The Little Mermaid," which cast Black actress Halle Bailey in the starring role -- have faced a right-wing backlash for their storylines or actors being too "woke."

The clip spreading online is not an authentic scene from a forthcoming "Hercules" remake, however.

While the song attached to the clip comes from the original animated film, reverse image searches revealed that the footage was lifted from the 2021 music video for Lizzo's "Rumors" (archived here). Lizzo, a Grammy-winning artist, is among those dancing in the shot.

AFP reached out to Disney and a representative for Lizzo, but no responses were forthcoming.

Fans of the song reveled at the music video's resemblance to scenes featuring the muses in the original "Hercules."

Lizzo even winked at the similarities, sharing an edit of the animated muses singing with her song dubbed over their movements. "YALL REALLY GET ME," Lizzo wrote in the 2021 post on X (archived here).

A "Hercules" remake is reportedly in development, with no timetable set as of April 2025 for its release. AFP contacted representatives for the producers reported to be involved with the film, but no response was coming.

In June 2025, a musical stage version featuring songs written for the animated film is set to open in London.

AFP has debunked other misinformation about Disney here.