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Tag: lizzo lawsuit

  • Lizzo’s tour dancers support singer in midst of toxic workplace lawsuit – National | Globalnews.ca

    Lizzo’s tour dancers support singer in midst of toxic workplace lawsuit – National | Globalnews.ca

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    A social media account representing Lizzo‘s current dance troupe has voiced support for the singer after several of her former backup dancers filed a lawsuit this month alleging workplace misconduct.

    In an Instagram post, Lizzo’s backup dancers, called the “Big Grrrls,” said they were “so honored to share the stage with such amazing talent” during the 35-year-old singer’s Special Tour, which ended in July.

    “The commitment to character and culture taking precedence over every movement and moment has been one of the Greatest lessons and Blessings that we could possibly ask for,” the statement reads. “THANK YOU to Lizzo for shattering limitations and kicking in the door way for the Big Grrrl & Big Boiii Dancers to do what we love!”

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    “You have created a platform where we have been able to parallel our Passion with purpose!” the troupe continued. “Not only for Us, but for Women and All people breaking Barriers.”

    A montage of video footage from Lizzo’s tour accompanied the post. In the clips, the Big Grrrls dance troupe is seen on stage and behind the scenes as they perform dance routines, prepare hair and makeup and pose for photos.

    It is not clear who penned the statement on behalf of the dancers.

    The defence for the About Damn Time singer comes just over two weeks after three former dancers — Arianna Davis, Crystal Williams and Noelle Rodriguez — sued Lizzo for various forms of misconduct.

    In an August 1 legal filing, the dancers claimed Lizzo sexually harassed them, criticized their weight and created a hostile workplace for employees. Lizzo was also accused of pressuring one dancer to interact with a nude performer against their will in Amsterdam.

    The dancers claimed to be victims of racial and religious harassment, assault and false imprisonment at the hands of Lizzo and her team.


    Click to play video: 'Lizzo’s backup dancers file lawsuit alleging sexual harassment, fat-shaming'


    Lizzo’s backup dancers file lawsuit alleging sexual harassment, fat-shaming


    Two days after the lawsuit was filed, Lizzo released a statement denying the allegations made against her.

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    Lizzo called the allegations “false, outrageous” and “sensationalized.”

    “These last few days have been gut wrenchingly difficult and overwhelmingly disappointing,” Lizzo wrote. “My work ethic, morals and respectfulness have been questioned. My character has been criticized.”

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    “These sensationalized stories are coming from former employees who have already publicly admitted that they were told their behavior on tour was inappropriate and unprofessional,” she continued.

    In rebuttal, Ron Zambrano, the lawyer representing the ex- backup dancers, said Lizzo’s “denial of this reprehensible behaviour only adds to our clients’ emotional distress.”

    “Lizzo has failed her own brand and has let down her fans,” he continued. “The dismissive comments and utter lack of empathy are quite telling about her character and only serve to minimize the trauma she has caused the plaintiffs and other employees who have now come forward sharing their own negative experiences.”

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    Click to play video: 'Lizzo denies ‘outrageous’ harassment allegations made by former backup dancers'


    Lizzo denies ‘outrageous’ harassment allegations made by former backup dancers


    The Big Grrrls dance troupe was formed as part of the singer’s Amazon competition series Lizzo’s Watch Out for the Big Grrrls. The Emmy-winning production followed Lizzo and her team as they auditioned backup dancers to join her world tour.

    &copy 2023 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

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    Sarah Do Couto

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  • Lizzo Just Kind of Ruined Barbie

    Lizzo Just Kind of Ruined Barbie

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    As though Barbie: The Album wasn’t already suffering enough, Lizzo had to go and get herself accused of, among other things, sexual harassment, general harassment and creating a hostile work environment. As for this listener, Lizzo’s music was never met with much excitement…particularly that weird Hercules homage that came in the form of “Rumors.” But the “rumors” here smack of having veracity, being that, as soon as the dancers came out with their tale of woe, documentary filmmaker Sophia Nahli Allison also stepped up to validate their experiences by talking about what she experienced while briefly trying to direct a documentary about the singer in 2019. The attempt ended after two weeks, when Allison “witnessed how arrogant, self-centered and unkind she is.” And furthermore, “was not protected and… thrown into a shitty situation with little support.” In the end, she realized, “My spirit said to run as fast as you fucking can and I’m so grateful I trusted my gut.”

    Alas, the dancers on her The Special Tour were not fortunate enough to react as viscerally to their own gut. Guts, apparently that were shamed by none other than Miss Body Positivity herself. And yet, considering how obsessive Lizzo is vis-à-vis talking about bodies, it should come as no surprise to anyone that her approach is actually toxic. For, just as there is toxic positivity, so, too, is there toxic body positivity. Which brings us to the irony of Lizzo’s participation in Barbie. Not just the fact that Barbie has long been an emblem for making women feel bad about their bodies, but also because Lizzo’s song on the soundtrack is the first sonic offering to introduce us to Barbie Land. After all, it’s called “Pink.”

    And it sets the entire tone for how Barbie and her sistren live as Lizzo sings, “When I wake up in my own pink world/I get up outta bed and wave to my homegirls/Hey, Barbie (hey)/She’s so cool/All dolled up, just playin’ chess by the pool/Come on, we got important things to do…/In pink!/Goes with everything/Beautiful from head to toe I’m read’ to go, you know, you know/It’s pink!” The more accurate exclamation, however, is: “It’s body shaming!” This being a common occurrence in Barbie Land as well…if we’re to go by Barbie (Margot Robbie) being horrified to learn what cellulite looks like. 

    Playing “Pink” once was already bad enough, but then, director Greta Gerwig and soundtrack producer Mark Ronson decided to go and let Lizzo make another version of the song for day two of our introduction to Barbie Land. This one speaking to how Barbie has been infected with irrepressible thoughts of death. Complete with the reworked bridge that goes, “P, panic/I, I’m scared/N, nauseous/K, death!” Except that now, when viewers watch this scene as the song plays, the humor is sure to be drained from it as they can’t help but think about Lizzo screaming at her dancers in a similarly deadpan tone. 

    Then there’s the other retroactively cringe lyric that goes, “What you wearin’? Dress or suit?/Either way, that power looks so good on you.” Eh…maybe not. Because, taking into account Lizzo’s grotesque abuse of power over her dancers, this line takes on an entirely different meaning. One that doesn’t feel “empowering,” so much as oppressive. And, here, too, it bears noting that someone who has been oppressed themselves often ends up becoming the worst kind of oppressor. Funneling their desire for retribution into all the wrong people. As for “retribution” in general, there’s no denying the conservative pundits are going to have a field day with these revelations about Lizzo and how they ought to also discredit the core messages in Barbie. 

    Which is unfortunate, since Gerwig and her co-writer, Noah Baumbach, had done such a thorough job of addressing many of the complexities and paradoxes surrounding the doll. One, who, in the end, will still stand out most glaringly in people’s minds for making other women feel insecure about their own bodies. Just as Lizzo, of all people, has. Especially now that everything regarding her “authenticity” is being called into question. Likely from a point of no return. Because when Beyoncé stops saying your name (as she did in a live performance of the Queens Remix of “Break My Soul” at a show in Boston), you know things are dire. That, in short, you’ve left the magic cushion of Barbie Land and entered the Real World.

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    Genna Rivieccio

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  • Lizzo’s backup dancers file lawsuit alleging sexual harassment, fat-shaming – National | Globalnews.ca

    Lizzo’s backup dancers file lawsuit alleging sexual harassment, fat-shaming – National | Globalnews.ca

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    Three of Lizzo‘s former performers are suing the singer, alleging sexual harassment and accusing her of creating a hostile work environment. There are also accusations that Lizzo pressured one of them to interact with a nude performer against their will in Amsterdam, and that the pop superstar has shamed and degraded members of her staff based on their looks and weight.

    The lawsuit, first reported on by NBC News, was filed Tuesday in Los Angeles Superior Court. It also names Lizzo’s production company, Big Grrrl Touring, Inc., and Shirlene Quigley, Lizzo’s dance team captain, as defendants.

    The suit, filed by dancers Arianna Davis, Crystal Williams and Noelle Rodriguez, alleges that the defendants created a hostile work environment through religious, sexual and racial harassment. It also alleges two separate lewd incidents involving a banana.

    The dancers are suing for damages over emotional distress including unpaid wages, loss of earnings and lawyer’s fees.

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    Lizzo performs in this undated photo.

    BBC Radio 1 / YouTube

    According to NBC, which viewed the lawsuit, Quigley is accused of proselytizing other dancers and shaming those who had premarital sex, while also discussing lewd sexual fantasies, simulating oral sex and publicly discussing one of the plaintiffs’ virginity.

    Lizzo is accused of making “thinly veiled” criticisms of Davis’s weight. The lawsuit alleges that the singer told Davis she seemed “less committed” to her role on the dance team, a comment Davis believes was based on her size.

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    The most shocking accusations, however, come from February of this year, when the group was touring in Amsterdam and made a post-show visit to a strip club.

    The lawsuit alleges that while Lizzo routinely hosted non-mandatory afterparties, those who attended were often treated better by the singer and were granted more job security.

    At the club, called Bananenbar, 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 suit says. “Lizzo then turned her attention to Ms. Davis and began pressuring Ms. Davis to touch the breasts of one of the nude women.”

    At first, the suit says, Davis declined, but Lizzo was allegedly adamant and began a chant that eventually became so loud and raucous that Davis gave in and touched the performer. There are also allegations that Lizzo pressured a member of her security team to take the stage and was yelling at the employee, “Take it off.”

    The plaintiffs claim that, just a month later, Lizzo, 35, deceived them once again into attending a nude show in Paris, thereby “robbing them of the choice not to participate,” Jezebel reports.

    Davis also alleges that at one point she was forced to “soil herself” on stage during an “excruciating” re-audition, “fearing the repercussions” of excusing herself to go to the restroom.

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    The dancers behind the lawsuit all began working with Lizzo in 2021. Davis and Williams joined Lizzo’s dance crew for the Amazon reality series Watch Out for the Big Grrrls. Rodriguez was hired after appearing in Lizzo’s 2021 Rumors video.

    Williams was let go from the crew in April of this year, shortly after getting into an argument with Lizzo, but says she was told she was let go because of “budget cuts.” Davis claims she was fired a month later, in May, after Lizzo discovered she had made an audio recording of performance notes she’d been given.

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    Rodriguez, meanwhile, said she publicly quit the team in solidarity with teammates who were being treated poorly.

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    Pitchfork reports the lawsuit claims that Lizzo, after hearing Rodriguez’s resignation, “approached Ms. Rodriguez aggressively, yelling profanities, cracking her knuckles, and balling her fists apparently preparing herself (to) attack.” Lizzo allegedly yelled, “You’re so f—ing lucky” and was pulled away. Rodriguez is suing Lizzo for assault over this incident.

    “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,” the plaintiffs’ lawyer, Ron Zambrano, said in a statement provided to media.

    Lizzo, her production company and Quigley have not responded to requests for comment or issued statements addressing the allegations or the lawsuit.

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    Michelle Butterfield

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