After being sued by three of her former dancers earlier this week for sexual and racial harassment, weight-shaming, and other transgressions leading to the creation of a hostile workplace environment, hit-making rapper/singer Lizzo has responded with a statement decrying the allegations.
“These last few days have been gut wrenchingly difficult and overwhelmingly disappointing,” she wrote in a series of notes posted to her Instagram account. “My work ethic, morals and respectfulness have been questioned. My character has been criticized. Usually I choose not to respond to false allegations but these are as unbelievable as they sound and too outrageous not to be addressed.” She went on to refer to the allegations in the lawsuit as “sensationalized” and “as unbelievable as they sound.”
“As an artist I have always been very passionate about what I do,” she continued. “I take my music and my performances seriously because at the end of the day I only want to put out the best art that represents me and my fans. 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.”
“I am not here to be looked at as a victim, but I also know that I am not the villain that the people and the media have portrayed me to be these last few days,” the four-time Grammy-winner added. “I am very open with my sexuality and expressing myself but I cannot accept or allow people to use that openness to make me out to be something I am not. 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. … I’m hurt but I will not let the good work I’ve done in the world be overshadowed by this.”
The lawsuit, first reported on by NBC News, was filed Tuesday morning in Los Angeles County Superior Court against the singer (real name Melissa Jefferson); her production company, Big Grrrl Big Touring, Inc.; and her dance team captain, Shirlene Quigley.
In the suit, the dancers—Arianna Davis, Crystal Williams, and Noelle Rodriguez—allege that they were pressured by Lizzo into touching nude performers while at a club in Amsterdam. The also recounts a story about the singer pressuring a member of her security team to go on stage at a nude cabaret. Per an account of the Amsterdam incident included in the suit, “Lizzo 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.”
In addition, the suit alleges mistreatment from BGBT toward the dancers. “BGBT’s management team consisted entirely of white Europeans who often accused the Black members of the dance team of being lazy, unprofessional, and having bad attitudes,” the lawsuit states.
Related: Lizzo Delivers Fiery “Proud Mary” Tribute To Tina Turner [Watch]
Regarding the weight-shaming allegations, the lawsuit alleges, “Lizzo and Ms. Scott questioned whether Ms. Davis was struggling with something as she seemed less committed to her role on the dance cast. Lizzo and Ms. Scott pressed Ms. Davis for an explanation why she seemed less bubbly and vivacious than she did prior to the tour starting. In professional dance, a dancer’s weight gain is often seen as that dancer getting lazy or worse off as a performer.” The suit added that “Lizzo’s and Ms. Scott’s questions about Ms. Davis’ commitment to the tour were thinly veiled concerns about Ms. Davis’ weight gain, which Lizzo had previously called attention to after noticing it at the South by Southwest music festival.” Ms. Davis, who was previously diagnosed with a binge eating disorder, said she got the impression that she had to “explain her weight gain and disclose intimate personal details about her life in order to keep her job,” according to the suit.
Two of the plaintiffs, Arianna Davis and Crystal Williams, began performing with Lizzo after competing on her 2021 Amazon Prime reality show, Watch Out for the Big Grrrls. The show was conceived as an opportunity to give plus-size dancers representation, Lizzo said at the time. Ms. Davis and Ms. Williams were fired in the spring of 2023, the lawsuit says. The third, Noelle Rodriguez, allegedly resigned shortly after Davis and Williams were let go.
Lizzo has made a name for herself as a symbol of body positivity and self-love, an image that goes against the allegations in the lawsuit. “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,” said Roy Zambrano, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, in a statement.
Read the full statement from Lizzo on the allegations in the lawsuit here.
The post Lizzo Responds To Lawsuit Alleging That She Sexually Harassed, Weight-Shamed Former Dancers appeared first on L4LM.
