Popstar Lizzo is trending all over the internet, but not for positive reasons. Her former dancers slapped her with a lawsuit on Tuesday that contains jaw-dropping claims.
According to Variety, three of Lizzo’s former dances filed the lawsuit in the Los Angeles County Superior Court. They named Lizzo (né Melissa Viviane Jefferson), her Big Grrrl Big Touring, Inc. (BGBT) production company and dance team captain Shirlene Quigley as the defendants.
The plaintiffs are Arianna Davis, Crystal Williams and Noelle Rodriguez, and they’re suing for alleged sexual, racial and religious harassment, disability discrimination, assault and false imprisonment and more.
In the lawsuit, the plaintiffs alleged that Lizzo forced them into uncomfortable situations. They mentioned a specific occurrence in Amsterdam’s Red Light District, infamous for its hedonistic reputation — called “The City of Sin” because of its infestation of sex workers.
During a live sex show at a Bananenbar club, Lizzo reportedly pressured her dancers to touch nude performers despite their opposition. Yet, the dancers swallowed their protest and engaged, fearful of losing their jobs.
“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,” the lawsuit read. Lizzo then turned her attention to Ms. Davis began pressuring Ms. Davis to touch the breasts of one of the nude women performing at the club.”
It resumed, “Lizzo began leading a chant goading Ms. Davis. Ms. Davis said three times, loud enough for all to hear,’ I’m good,’ expressing her desire not to touch the performer.”
The trio also accused Lizzo of inviting them to a bar, failing to notify them that it was a nude cabaret bar, “robbing them of the choice not to participate.”
Quigley was accused of forcing her Christian beliefs on the dancers and publishing private information about Davis being a virgin.
The lawsuit said Quigley called Rodriguez a “non-believer.” When the dancers tried to get Quigley to stop forcing her religion on them, she responded, “No job and no one will stop me from talking about the Lord.”
Davis alleged in the lawsuit that Lizzo and her choreographer Tanisha Scott brought attention to her weight gain at the South by Southwest music festival.”
“Although Lizzo and Ms. Scott never explicitly stated it, these questions, accompanied by Lizzo’s statements made after the South by Southwest music festival, gave Ms. Davis the impression that she needed to explain her weight gain and disclose intimate personal details about her life in order to keep her job,” the lawsuit said.
The South by Southwest festival happened in March. Two months later, in May, Lizzo and her team fired Davis for reportedly recording a meeting where the “Special” singer distributed notes to dancers regarding their performances.
Williams got fired and was told it was due to “budget cuts,” but she didn’t believe it because they didn’t fire anyone else that day. Williams insinuated the firing stirred from speaking up at a meeting where Lizzo accused the dancers of consuming alcohol before performing.
Rodriguez quit due to feeling disrespected in a hostile climate.
BGBT got roped into the lawsuit because white team members reportedly made racial and fat-phobic comments toward the dancers, who were all “full-figured women of color.”
After the news about the “Good as Hell” singer surfaced, one of the dancers took to their Instagram story with a message, according to the Shade Room.
“In light of everything that’s going on, please remember that this is not an excuse to be fat phobic, racist, or just plain mean,” the IG Story read. “No matter what happened, please be kind to all parties involved. Thank you.”
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The trio received much support from people who claimed they were also former dancers of Lizzo.
“For clarification, I’m not a part of the lawsuit, but this was very much my experience in my time there,” Lizzo’s ex-creative director shared on Instagram. “Big shoutout to the dancers who had the courage to bring this to light.”
Another former employee voiced the old creative director’s thoughts, adding, “I haven’t been a part of that world for around three years for a reason…And I grieve parts of my own experience. I’d appreciate space to understand my feelings.”
Filmmaker Sophia Sophia Nahli Allison came forward to claim she was disrespected by the “Truth Hurts” hitmakers in 2019 while directing her documentary.
“I walked away after about two weeks…I witnessed how arrogant, self-centered, and unkind she is,” Allison’s statement read. “I was not protected and was thrown into a s**tty situation with little support.”
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Lizzo and her team involved in the lawsuit haven’t made a statement or addressed the matter.
