Lizzo facing lawsuits following fat shaming and harrasement allegations
The award winning artist is being sued by 3 of her former tour back up dancers
"Good As Hell" hitmaker Lizzo is being sued by three of her former dancers over claims including body shaming, and creating a hostile work environment.
The legal action includes accusations of sexual, religious, and racial harassment, discrimination, assault, and pressuring a dancer to touch a performer's breasts.
Arianna Davis, Crystal Williams, and Noelle Rodriguez are the 3 former dancers who've filed the case against the singer, her dance captain, and her production company Big Grrrl Big Touring (BGBT).
Oh, the drama!
A legal action was filed in Los Angeles on Tuesday, and boy, does it have some spicy allegations!
Picture this: dancers allegedly forced into attending sex shows and cozying up with other dancers!
And here's the juicy part: our very own body-positive queen, Lizzo, finds herself in the hot seat.
Yeah, you read that right! The star who preaches self-love is facing claims that she allegedly "pressured Ms. Davis to get touchy-feely with a performer's breasts" during a nightclub shindig in Amsterdam. After some resistance, Ms. Davis apparently gave in, fearing it might jeopardize her spot on the team.
But wait, there's more! It's not just Lizzo, folks. Her dance choreographer Tanisha Scott gets a piece of this drama pie too.
Alongside the 'Truth Hurts' singer, they're accused of fat-shaming Ms. Davis while they were out touring. Seriously, can't we all just dance and spread good vibes?
Ironically, all these claims go against everything Lizzo stands for publicly and in her songs.
Ms Davis alleges the two questioned whether she was "struggling with something as she seemed less committed to her role on the dance cast", the case details.
"In professional dance, a dancer's weight gain is often seen as that dancer getting lazy or worse off as a performer. Lizzo's and Ms. Scott's questions about Ms. Davis's commitment to the tour were thinly veiled concerns about Ms Davis's weight gain," the documents allege.
The dancers allege that "only the dance cast - comprised of full-figured women of colour - were ever spoken to in this manner, giving [the dancers] the impression that these comments were charged with racial and fat-phobic animus".
The dance team's captain, Shirlene Quigley, seems to have quite a lot going on as well. Not only did she allegedly try to push her Christian beliefs on the performers, but she also had a thing or two to say about premarital sex!
According to the lawsuit Ms. Quigley publicly discussed one dancer’s virginity. She took her obsession to a whole new level by posting about it on social media.
Tacky move, captain!
But wait, there's more tea to spill! Accusations of racial discrimination are flying left and right, and the management team at BGBT seems to be in the thick of it.
Two of the three dancers involved in the legal action, Ms Davis and Ms Williams, met Lizzo in March 2021 while preparing to compete on the reality TV show Lizzo's Watch Out for the Big Grrrls.
The third, Ms Rodriguez, was hired later in May 2021 to perform in Lizzo's Rumours music video. She then remained part of the dance troupe.
Ms Davis and Ms Williams were fired from the dance team, while Ms Rodriguez later resigned over the alleged treatment of her fellow colleagues.
It is still unclear how much money the trio are seeking as part of the suit.
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