Lizzo allegedly subjected her dancers to a grueling 12-hour re-audition.
A few days after news broke of a bombshell lawsuit that accused Lizzo of sexual harassment and creating a hostile work environment, the singer has issued a response. Here’s what we know about the legal drama and the allegations against the singer.
Lizzo responds to the allegations amid legal drama
On Tuesday, three of Lizzo’s former dancers filed a lawsuit alleging that Lizzo pressured employees to touch a naked performer in a club in Amsterdam (as well as other intimate acts), subjected existing cast members to an additional 12-hour audition, and weight-shamed one dancer who was later fired. The suit names Lizzo, whose birth name is Melissa Viviane Jefferson, as well as her production company and the dance captain Shirlene Quigley as defendants. The alleged behavior goes against everything the singer — who’s known for her powerful messages of self-acceptance and body-positive anthems, and has launched her own size-inclusive brand of shapewear — publicly stands for.
On Thursday, Lizzo spoke out against the lawsuit, calling the allegations “false.” “Usually I choose not to respond to false allegations but these are as unbelievable as they sound and too outrageous to not be addressed,” she wrote in an Instagram post. She later wrote, “There is nothing I take more seriously than the respect we deserve as women in the world. I know what it feels like to be body shamed on a daily basis and would absolutely never criticize or terminate an employee because of their weight.”
She also said, “With passion comes hard work and high standards. Sometimes I have to make hard decisions but it’s never my intention to make anyone feel uncomfortable or like they aren’t valued as an important part of the team.”
The singer doubled down on her claim that the allegations against her are false, writing, “These sensationalized stories are coming from former employees who have already publicly admitted that they were told their behavior on tour was inappropriate and unprofessional.”
“I am not here to be looked at as a victim, but I also know that I am not the villain that people and the media have portrayed me to be these last few days.” She added, “I’m hurt but I will not let the good work I’ve done in the world be overshadowed by this.”
Ron Zambrano, the attorney representing the former dancers who filed the lawsuit, told NBC News, “[Lizzo’s] denial of this reprehensible behavior only adds to our clients’ emotional distress.”
“Lizzo has failed her own brand and has let down her fans,” Zambrano said. “The dismissive comments and utter lack of empathy are quite telling about her character and only serve to minimize the trauma she has caused the plaintiffs and other employees who have now come forward sharing their own negative experiences.”
Damning claims in a lawsuit filed against Lizzo
The lawsuit against Lizzo contained a number of allegations of sexual harassment. In addition to the claims made about the Amsterdam club, the former dancers also claim that Lizzo’s dance captain shamed unmarried dancers who were sexually active, but also simulated oral sex, and recounted explicit sexual fantasies. While the suit doesn’t specify that Lizzo was aware of this behavior, the plaintiffs have said that they believe she was, according to Zambrano.
Lizzo allegedly “demeaned” her performers in “illegal” and “demoralizing” ways
“The stunning nature of how Lizzo and her management team treated their performers seems to go against everything Lizzo stands for publicly, while privately she weight-shames her dancers and demeans them in ways that are not only illegal but absolutely demoralizing,” Zambrano said in a statement.
The suit claims that the singer regularly hosted afterparties following concerts. While these weren’t compulsory, the plaintiffs allege that those who attended enjoyed more job security, and tended to be treated better by Lizzo.
During one such party at an Amsterdam club, Lizzo allegedly “began inviting cast members to take turns touching the nude performers, catching dildos launched from the performers’ vaginas, and eating bananas protruding from the performers’ vaginas.” The suit says that Lizzo “then turned her attention to Ms. Davis [one of the plaintiffs, whose full name is Arianna Davis] and began pressuring Ms. Davis to touch the breasts of one of the nude women.”
Davis capitulated, as she claims she feared “it may harm her future on the team” if she didn’t do as she was told.
“Plaintiffs were aghast with how little regard Lizzo showed for the bodily autonomy of her employees and those around her, especially in the presence of many people whom she employed,” according to the suit.
Lizzo allegedly “weight-shamed” one of her dancers
After one performance, Lizzo and her choreographer apparently told one of the plaintiffs, dancer Arianna Davis, that she seemed “less committed” to her job.
“In professional dance, a dancer’s weight gain is often seen as that dancer getting lazy or worse off as a performer. Lizzo’s and Ms. Scott’s questions about Ms. Davis’s commitment to the tour were thinly veiled concerns about Ms Davis’s weight gain,” the documents allege.
Davis claims she was fired on the spot just a month later, after recording a meeting about an eye condition. The suit claims that when Lizzo learned of the recording, she “became furious, hurling expletives at the group and stated that she was going to go around the room, person-by-person” until someone told her who’d made it.
The suit makes it clear that it was the dance cast specifically who were subjected to degrading treatment. When some dancers asked to receive a higher proportion of their weekly pay during their downtime, as other performers did, an accountant apparently called them “unacceptable and disrespectful.”
“Only the dance cast — comprised of full-figured women of color — were ever spoken to in this manner,” the suit states.
Dancers were subjected to a 12-hour audition
Both Davis and another plaintiff, Crystal Williams, began working for Lizzo after competing on Watch Out for the Big Grrrls, the dance competition she hosts for Amazon. Williams claims that she was fired after speaking up in a meeting during which Lizzo accused dancers of drinking before shows.
The meeting was preceded by an exhausting 12-hour audition the day prior, during which dancers who were already working for Lizzo apparently fought to keep their jobs in light of the drinking accusations. Davis claims she soiled herself in the process, as she was afraid asking to visit the bathroom might put her employment on the line. Williams was told that her dismissal was due to budget cuts — but notes that no one else lost their job.
The third plaintiff, Noelle Rodriguez, says she quit in response to the dance captain’s religious proselytizing, and the grim treatment of the other dancers. The suit notes that Rodriguez was “one of the few members of the dance cast who is not black, was not painted with the same generalized and unfounded criticisms as the black members of the dance cast”.
