Former dancers Lizzo sued her in Los Angeles, accusing the American singer of sexual harassment and creating a hostile work environment. The BBC reports it.
The girls’ names are Arianna Davis, Crystal Williams and Noel Rodriguez. They charged Lizzo, her producer Big Grrrl Big Touring (BGBT) and dance troupe captain Shirlene Quigley with religious and racial discrimination, assault and unlawful imprisonment.
According to the dancers, while working with Lizzo in 2021-2023, they were “forced to endure harassment” and “participate in a sex show.” In particular, the singer forced Davis at the beginning of 2023 to touch the breasts of a dancer from a nightclub in Amsterdam. Pitchfork writes that Lizzo also invited girls to a Parisian cabaret “for inspiration”, hiding from them that nude artists would perform there.
The lawsuit also alleges that Lizzo, who has always advocated for body positivity, called attention to the fact that Arianna Davis was gaining weight. And the BGBT company treated the full black members of the team “differently” than the rest. Said dancers were accused of being “lazy, unprofessional and with a bad attitude” to work.
The lawsuit also alleges that Lizzo paid overweight black dancers “unfairly little” to participate in the tour. They were only offered 25% of their weekly compensation for the period they were not performing. At the same time, other team members received 50%.
Previously, Dove and Lizzo launched an initiative to address psychological issues caused by social media. The campaign became part of the Self-esteem project. We talk about it in more detail here.
