The attorney for Lizzo’s sexual harassment and harassment accusers has said more people have called him with allegations about the star.
Attorney Ron Zambrano is currently representing three backup dancers who have accused the singer of sexual harassment and creating a hostile work environment.
The 35-year-old pop star, real name Melissa Viviane Jefferson, is facing legal battles after they claimed she made comments about their weight and pressured someone to touch a naked performer at a strip club.
Zambrano has now said more people have come forward since then Newsland; ‘Now that this is out, the cat is out of the bag, people are coming up and saying “you know what, I’ve been through that”.
“There are people who call my office and say ‘you know what, behind closed doors this is what Lizzo is like’.”
The plaintiffs in the lawsuit are named as Arianna Davis, Crystal Williams and Noelle Rodriguez.
Crystal Williams – one of the plaintiffs who filed the lawsuit against Lizzo. The lawsuit alleged that Williams spoke out against Lizzo’s allegations that the dancers drank before their performances. She was fired a few days later
Arianna Davis – one of the plaintiffs who filed the lawsuit against Lizzo. In one case reported in the lawsuit, Davis soiled her pants during an intense rehearsal because she was so afraid she would lose her job. She was then given a sheer outfit with no undergarments to complete the performance, the suit said
Noelle Rodriguez – one of the plaintiffs who filed the lawsuit against Lizzo. When Rodriguez pulled over, Lizzo showed her two middle fingers and yelled a slur at her, the lawsuit alleged
Chris Cuomo also referenced a video obtained by TMZ showing Arianna Davis saying that working with Lizzo “was so amazing and such a beautiful journey”.
Davis also said, “I look up to her so much. I just want to follow in her footsteps.”
Cuomo fires back at Zambrano, saying, “She doesn’t seem bothered.”
Zambrano explained, “That happened before most of the allegations in the complaint. That was an audition tape for the show’s second season on Amazon.
“Nothing that was in the complaint happened before that video was made.”
Cuomo also wondered if it was more against her dance captain Shirelen Quigley.
The host said, “Is it really about the dance captain and not Lizzo, and you throw Lizzo in because she’s the big name, and that’s why you get a settlement?”
Zambrano hit back: “Lizzo is one of the people who absolutely fostered this environment of sexual harassment.
“She allowed this environment to exist. Her statement today says she is a very sexual person, in fact she says if you want to be around me you have to deal with it.
‘But you shouldn’t be doing that in a workplace, and that’s the problem.’
The lawsuit accuses the singer of “inviting cast members to take turns touching the naked performers” in an Amsterdam strip club.
Lizzo reportedly encouraged “catching d****s launched from the performers’ vaginas and eating bananas sticking out of the performers’ vaginas.”
The “About Damn Time” singer, 35, is known for her fun body positivity, but the lawsuit puts her in a very different light.
Lizzo isn’t the only named defendant in the case, which was filed Tuesday in Los Angeles Superior Court.
Zambrano, right, had spoken to Chris Cuomo, left, when he said more people had come forward about the star
Lizzo, whose real name is Melissa Viviane Jefferson, is facing legal battles after the alleged dancers created a hostile work environment
Her dance captain, Shirlene Quigley, also faces a slew of accusations.
Williams and Davis both appeared on the recent Amazon Prime reality show ‘Lizzo’s Watch Out for the Big Grrrls’ – about the singer’s search for backup dancers.
According to the lawsuit, Quigley shared “lewd sexual fantasies” and publicly discussed the virginity of one of the accusers, while berating those who had premarital sex.
Complaints for all damages include: hostile work environment, sexual harassment, religious harassment, racial harassment, disability discrimination, and failure to prevent or remedy harassment.
Lizzo is specifically charged with disability discrimination, creating a hostile work environment, sexual harassment and failure to stop said issues.
Her tour company Big Grrrl Big Touring Inc. is also named as a defendant.
Lizzo also claimed that the dancers drank before performances, which Williams subsequently spoke out about. The pop star reportedly put the group through an “excruciating” 12-hour rehearsal.
Williams lost her job days later, the lawsuit alleged.
Davis, meanwhile, soiled her pants during the intense rehearsal because she was so afraid she would lose her job, the documents say.
She was then given a sheer outfit with no undergarments to complete the performance, the suit said.
In Rodriguez’s case, she complained to a manager about the decision to publicly fire Williams, after Lizzo told the group she had “eyes and ears everywhere.”
But as a result, Lizzo held a meeting and had security seize dancers’ phones, the lawsuit alleged.
Rodriguez then expressed how she felt disrespected and threatened to resign – to which Lizzo said she was “lucky”.
When Rodriguez did indeed pull over, Lizzo showed her two middle fingers and scolded her, the lawsuit alleged.
On Thursday, the pop star called the lawsuit against her “incredible” and “outrageous” when she broke her silence.
Lizzo wrote in a statement: “The past few days have been heartbreakingly difficult and overwhelmingly disappointing.
Usually I choose not to respond to false allegations, but these are as unbelievable as they sound and too outrageous not to raise.
Lizzo will perform at the United Center in Chicago on May 17, 2023
Full statement from Lizzo: The singer addressed all the claims, saying her morals and values were called into question
These sensational stories come from former employees who have already publicly admitted that their behavior on tour was inappropriate and unprofessional.
“I’m not here to be seen as a victim, but I also know I’m not the villain that people and the media have portrayed me over the past few days.”
Hours after news of the lawsuit went public, Lizzo’s former creative director Quinn Whitney Wilson and dancer Courtney Hollinquest claimed they had experienced similar abuse.
Courtney said on her Instagram on Tuesday, “To clarify, I’m not part of the lawsuit, but this was very much my experience in my time there.”
Lizzo performing at Spark Arena in Auckland, New Zealand on July 26, 2023
Dancer Courtney Hollinquest shared a headline about the lawsuit filed against Lizzo, adding on her Instagram story, ‘this was very much my experience in my time there’
Her first major label album Cuz I Love You made the Billboard Top Ten, with the one-flop song Truth Hurts, which received a huge resurgence despite originally being released in 2017.
Lizzo released her second mainstream album, Special, in 2022, which featured one of her most famous songs About Damn Time, which rose to number one on the US charts.