Lizzo has been sued by three of her former backup dancers who accused the singer of sexual harassment and creating a hostile work environment.
The pop star, whose real name is Melissa Viviane Jefferson, is facing legal battles after the dancers claimed she made comments about their weight and pressured one of them to touch a naked performer at a strip club.
The accusers — her former dancers — are named in the lawsuit as Arianna Davis, Crystal Williams and Noelle Rodriguez.
The “About Damn Time” singer Lizzo, 35, is known for her fun body positivity, but the lawsuit puts her in a completely different light.
It accused the famous singer of “inviting cast members to take turns touching the naked performers” at an Amsterdam strip club, the indictment said.
She reportedly encouraged “catching dildos launched from the performers’ vaginas and eating bananas sticking out of the performers’ vaginas.”
Lizzo, whose real name is Melissa Viviane Jefferson, is facing legal battles after the dancers claimed she made comments about their weight, pressured someone to touch a naked performer in a club, and created a hostile work environment.
Ron Zambrano, the women’s attorney, said in the lawsuit, which was first revealed by NBC news: ‘The astounding nature of how Lizzo and her management team treated their artists seems to go against everything Lizzo publicly stands for.
“While privately shaming and humiliating her dancers in a way that is not only illegal but absolutely demoralizing.”
Lizzo isn’t the only named defendant in the case, which was filed Tuesday in Los Angeles Superior Court.
Her dance captain, Shirlene Quigley, also faces a slew of accusations.
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.
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
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
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
In the Amsterdam strip club, Lizzo is said to have “focused her attention on Mrs. Davis and pressured Mrs. Davis to touch the breasts of one of the naked women.”
Davis refused several times, while the pop star allegedly chanted louder and louder to encourage her to do the deed, the lawsuit alleged. Davis eventually touched on the artist.
“Plaintiffs were baffled by how little respect Lizzo showed for the bodily autonomy of her employees and those around her, especially in the presence of many people she employed,” the filing read.
In another case, the plaintiffs allege that Lizzo invited the dancers to a club in Paris but failed to mention that it was a nude cabaret bar. This “shocked” the dancers, who said Lizzo “deprived them of the choice not to participate,” according to the suit.
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.
Lizzo performing on ‘The Special Tour’ at Rogers Arena in November 2022 in Vancouver, British Columbia
Williams lost her job days later, the lawsuit claimed.
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.
Rodriguez complained to a manager about the decision to publicly fire Williams, after Lizzo told the group she had “eyes and ears everywhere.”
Davis taped the meeting on April 27, claiming she suffers from an eye condition that causes her to become disoriented.
But as a result, Lizzo held a meeting and had security seize dancers’ phones, the lawsuit alleged.
“Lizzo became furious, hurled expletives at the group and said she would go around the room, person by person until someone told Lizzo who made the recording,” the filing reads.
When Davis tried to tell Lizzo and Quigley that she meant no harm in recording the meeting, they berated her and Lizzo fired her on the spot, the suit read.
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.
Lizzo has yet to respond to the lawsuit.