I told you a long time ago that we were sick and tired of seeing Lizzo all over our timeline; now, Lizzo, we want to know if the rumors that you sexually harassed and body-shamed your backup dancers are true.
On Tuesday, Lizzo was served with a massive lawsuit containing numerous allegations, including sexual harassment, from three of her former dancers, Arianna Davis, Noelle Rodriguez, and Crystal Willaims. In their lawsuit, the dancers also accused Lizzo of creating a hostile work environment. The three women also claimed that the artist forced them to touch a naked performer in an Amsterdam club and to go through an “excruciating” audition after falsely accusing them of drinking on the job.
For someone to go to the internet every time someone body-shames her, Lizzo, how dare you bully and pick on women who look exactly like you, phat and black. The dancers claimed in their lawsuit that Lizzo singled out one of them and spoke about her weight gain before firing her.
The lawsuit named Lizzo, whose real name is Melissa Viviane Jefferson, and her production company as defendants. In addition, the lawsuit claimed religious and racial harassment, false imprisonment, interference with prospective economic advantage, and other claims.
According to the lawsuit, Lizzo’s afterparties were routine and non-mandatory, but those who attended were favored by Lizzo and had greater job security. The women claimed that 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” at Amsterdam’s Bananebar strip club.” According to the suit, Lizzo “then turned her attention to Ms. Davis and began pressuring her to touch one of the naked women’s breasts.”
Arianna Davis declined to touch the breast of the naked woman, according to the lawsuit. Lizzo allegedly continued to pressure her to touch the woman’s breast by leading a chant after that. Before the chant “grew louder and more strident, demanding a visibly uncomfortable Ms. Davis to engage with the performer,” Davis claimed she declined three more times. According to the lawsuit, Davis finally caved and touched the performer for a split second as the group erupted in laughter.
Lizzo then allegedly pushed a member of her security staff onto the stage and began yelling, “take it off,” according to the lawsuit.
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,”the suit says.
A week later, after a performance in Paris, Lizzo invited her dancers to a club so “they could learn something or be inspired by the performance,” according to the suit. “What Lizzo forgot to mention when she invited the dancers to this performance was that it was a naked cabaret bar.”
The plaintiffs were “shocked that Lizzo would conceal the nature of the event from them, robbing them of the choice not to participate,” according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit claimed that comments described as racial harassment were “charged with racial and fat-phobic animus” by tour company employees.
The former dancers requested compensation for their downtime at a rate of 50% of their weekly pay, according to the lawsuit. The dancers were reprimanded for being “unacceptable and disrespectful” by the accountant, who offered them 25%.
“Only the dance cast — comprised of full-figured women of color — were ever spoken to in this manner,” according to the suit.
After making the accusations and a day before the meeting, Lizzo informed the women that they would have to re-audition, promoting the “excruciating” 12-hour rehearsal. During the rehearsal, Davis expressed concern that she would lose her job if she went to the restroom after soiling her pants. According to the suit, she claimed she was given a see-through outfit with no undergarments to finish the performance.
The next day, Lizzo brought up the subject of drinking. According to the lawsuit, Williams informed Lizzo that they were not drinking, to which Lizzo replied, “Well, if you’re not, then good for y’all.” Days later, on April 26, Lizzo’s tour manager fired Williams in a hotel lobby, citing budget cuts as the reason.
Rodriquez confronted the manager about the firing of Williams. According to the suit, Lizzo “repeatedly” stated on April 27 that she has “eyes and ears everywhere.” According to the suit, Davis stated that she recorded the meeting because she had an eye condition that caused her to become disoriented in stressful situations. Days later, Lizzo called an emergency meeting and had her dancers’ phones confiscated by security.
According to the suit, Lizzo became enraged, hurling expletives at the group and threatening to go around the room, person by person, until someone told her who made the recording. Davis admitted to taping the meeting because she wanted a copy of Lizzo’s performance notes. Davis stated that she did not intend to cause harm and that she deleted the video, to which Lizzo allegedly responded, “There is nothing you can say to make me believe you.”
Davis acknowledged recording the meeting, saying she wanted a copy of Lizzo’s performance notes, the suit says. When Davis said she hadn’t meant any harm and deleted the video, Lizzo allegedly responded: “There is nothing you can say to make me believe you.”
The suit says that before Lizzo left the meeting, Rodriguez told her that she felt disrespected and would resign. Lizzo responded by “cracking her knuckles, balling her fists” and using an expletive to tell Rodriguez she was “lucky,” the suit states.
As Rodriguez left, the suit says, Lizzo raised both her middle fingers and yelled a slur.
The suit alleges false imprisonment against Lizzo’s production company because a member of her security detail allegedly forced Davis to remain in the room after the meeting ended so he could search her phone for the video.
The suit does not specify a dollar amount for damages that cover emotional distress including unpaid wages, loss of earnings and attorney’s fees.
Lizzo has been in hiding since the lawsuit was filed Tuesday.
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