Last Night, singer Lizzo found herself in hot waters after three of her former tour dancers came forward and accused her of sexual harassment and creating a hostile environment through sexual, racial and religious harassment between years 2021 and 2023, according to lawsuit filed on Tuesday.
Lizzo who is big on body positivity and self-love, is reportedly she criticized a dancer’s recent weight gain and later berated, then fired, that dancer for recording a meeting.
According to a lawsuit, Lizzo alleged forced a dancer to touch a nude performer at a club in Amsterdam, the singer allegedly “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 allegedly pressured Davis to touch the nude breasts of one performer and began goading her on when she refused.
Lizzo subjected dancers to an “excruciating” 12-hour audition, accusing them of drinking while working, said the suit.
“Plaintiffs were aghast with how little regard Lizzo showed for the bodily autonomy of her employees and those around her, especially in the presence of many people whom she employed,” the suit says.
The suit alleges that the Truth Hurts singer’s dance captain, Shirlene Quigley, forced her Christian belief upon other performers while berating those who participate in premarital sex. Quigley also tried to recruit the dancers to convert to her belief, while on the other side simulating oral sex, sharing lewd sexual fantasies and discussing one performer’s virginity.
Lizzo, whose real name is Melissa Viviane Jefferson, her production company, Big Grrrl Big Touring, Inc and Quigley are named as defendants by the suit.
“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,” Zambrano said in a statement.
The singer was sued by her former dancers, Arianna Davis, Crystal Williams and Noelle Rodriguez. Tuesday, two more women came forward with similar claims–– dancer Courtney Hollinquest and director Sophia Nahil Allison after the lawsuit was filed in Los Angeles.
Main Image: lizzo| Rob Grabowski/2023 Invision – AP