A lawsuit has recently been filed against Lizzo, and she is up against some very, very serious allegations. News of the lawsuit broke when three of the Grammy winner's former dancers stepped forward.
The plaintiffs are Arianna Davis, Crystal Williams, and Noelle Rodriguez. In the lawsuit, they make a handful of allegations including sexual, religious, and racial harassment, as well as disability discrimination, assault, and false imprisonment. They also accused the singer and her production company of creating a hostile work environment.
While Lizzo is known largely for body positivity, one of the dancers claimed that she was weight-shamed. She shared that Lizzo called attention to her weight gain, and then later berated and fired her for recording a meeting due to a health condition.
Another allegation made against the singer was that she forced a dancer to touch nude performers at a strip club in Amsterdam. She was also accused of making the group do an "excruciating" audition after falsely accusing them of drinking on the job.
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The captain of Lizzo's dance team, Shirlene Quigley, was accused of proselytizing to other dancers and also deriding those who engaged in premarital sex. The lawsuit says that she shared lewd sexual fantasies, simulated oral sex, and publicly discussed the virginity of one of the plaintiffs.
It is unclear if Lizzo knew about these allegations linked to her dance team captain, but the dancers believed the singer was aware of their complaints against her.
Davis and Williams began performing with Lizzo after they competed on her Amazon show Watch Out for the Big Grrrls in 2021. They were later fired. Rodriguez was hired the same year after dancing in the singer's music video "Rumors." She resigned earlier this year.
Lizzo is known for her uplifting messages and spreading love about body image, so this news comes as a shock to many. No response has been made to requests for comments from Lizzo's representative or her production company.
Amid news of the lawsuit dropping, the singer made three separate posts on her Instagram, none of them acknowledging the allegations. " Black women made rock n roll YEAH ," one of the captions read.
But fans flooded her posts with comments about the allegations.
"Ummm why you posting when there’s a lawsuit going against you?" one person wrote.
"What makes this extra frustrating (for me) is the fact that you are so outspoken about body image and make all these posts, then you allegedly sexually harassed and body shamed your employees its just disgusting," someone else commented. "I hope you address these allegations ."
Others who have worked with Lizzo are now speaking out about their own experiences with the singer. Another former dancer, who is not part of the lawsuit, Courtney Hollinquest, spoke out on her Instagram saying she agrees with the things Lizzo is being accused of. "This was very much my experience in my time there," she wrote. "Big shoutout to the dancers who had the courage to bring this to light."
