In The Wake Of A Lawsuit Alleging Harassment, More Claims Are Made Against Lizzo:
Within a lawsuit filed on Tuesday, three of Lizzo’s former dancers say that the singer sexually harassed them and made the workplace unsafe for them.
They also say that she forced one of them to make contact with a naked performer in an Amsterdam club as well as put the group through a “excruciating” test after making false claims that they consumed alcohol upon the job.
Ron Zambrano Checked Out More Than Six People Who Said They Had Been On Tour With Lizzo:
Ron Zambrano said that his company, which specializes in employment law, is looking into new claims from at least six people who say they toured with Lizzo. These people include other dancers and some who say they worked upon her Amazon Studios reality show, “Lizzo’s Watch Out for the Big Grrrls.”
He said that the claims are about a “sexually charged environment” rather than paying workers. Zambrano said that after looking over the claims, he found that some could be taken to court and others couldn’t be.
“Some of the claims we’re looking at may be actionable, yet it’s too early to say,” he stated Tuesday night. Tuesday, a person who works for Lizzo refused to say anything.
The suit doesn’t say if Lizzo knew regarding the claims against Shirlene Quigley, the dance captain, but the plaintiffs’ lawyer, Ron Zambrano, said they thought the singer knew about their accusations against her.
Lizzo, whose real name was Melissa Viviane Jefferson, is being sued along with her production business and Quigley. In addition to claims of toxic work environment as well as sexual harassment, the lawsuit also makes claims of religion and racial abuse, false arrest, interference with a possible economic benefit, and other things. Not each person was sued for every claim.
Neama Rahmani, another lawyer for the claimants, called the behavior at issue in the suit “outrageous.” Lizzo is renowned for promoting positive body image as well as being proud of her body.
According to the suit, she forced a dancer to touch a naked performer at a strip club, commented on the dancer’s weight, as well as fired her in the presence of other artists after she recorded an appointment to help her deal with a health condition.
Lizzo Is Said That It Was “Normal” For Them To Be “Fired When They Get Fat”:
It says that Lizzo made fun of the dancer’s size after she performed at the South by Southwest music event. Zambrano said this week that Lizzo told all of the dancers in a meeting this year that it was “normal” for them to be fired when they got fat.
After the dancer performed at the South by Southwest music event, Lizzo is accused of making comments about the dancer’s weight. Later, the singer and her director told the dancer, Arianna Davis, that she seemed “less committed” to her part. The suit says that this was a “thinly veiled” comment about Davis’ weight.
Effects On A Career:
It’s not clear if the accusations will hurt Melissa Viviane Jefferson, who goes by the name Lizzo. In an email, Luminate, a company that looks at data from the entertainment and music industries, said that there didn’t seem to be much of an effect on her sales, streaming, as well as airplay from last Tuesday to Friday.
The company said that more weekly statistics will be available on Friday. Lizzo’s fourth record came out last year, as well as her song “Pink,” which is in “Barbie” and on the music, came out last month.
Last Year, Lizzo And Fabletics Launched The Shapewear Brand YITTY:
Fabletics, which started the shapewear brand YITTY with Lizzo last year as well as wants to promote “body normality” and “self-love,” didn’t answer to a request for comment.
This year, Amazon Studios said that “Watch Out for the Big Girls” was holding auditions for a second season. When asked for a statement, the company didn’t give one.
Davis and Crystal Williams started performing with Lizzo after competing upon her Amazon reality show “Watch Out for the Big Grrrls.”
The suit says that Davis and another former dancer, Crystal Williams, started working with Lizzo after competing upon her Amazon reality show, “Watch Out for the Big Grrrls,” within 2021. In the end, the dancers were fired.
The suit says that Noelle Rodriguez got a job the same year she was in the video “Rumours.” This year, Rodriguez quit his job.
Lizzo was going to be the main act at a music event in Philadelphia in September. The festival was canceled Tuesday, but the producers didn’t say why.
Representatives for the festival, Live Nation, Lizzo, as well as SZA, who was also supposed to lead the event, didn’t reply right away to calls for comment. Before the case was filed, sales of festival tickets were “not good,” a person close to the show said.
What Do Dancers Say They Do?
After competing on the show’s initial season two years ago, Davis and Williams started singing with Lizzo. Zambrano said it was their initial experience spending time in the field.
Rodriguez got the job the same year she appeared in the video “Rumours.” Zambrano said that she had worked with Beyoncé, Janet Jackson, as well as Lady Gaga in the past.
Rodriguez Had Never Been Through Anything Such As What She Went Through When She Worked For Lizzo:
Zambrano said that Rodriguez had never been through anything such as what she did while working for Lizzo. Even being taken to a club, where Davis stated the dancers were when Lizzo reportedly tried to get her to touch a naked performance, was strange, Rodriguez was quoted as saying by Zambrano.
“What usually happens is that people stay at the venue after the show to host a party there,” he stated. “That’s all. After that, it’s rare to be asked to parties or clubs.”
All three women went back to their own homes to be alongside their families and try to get over what had happened.
He said that after they quit as well as got fired, all three women went to their own homes to be alongside their families and try to get over what had happened.
“It was truly traumatic for them,” he stated, noting that they had been demoted in the presence of managers and security workers. “They felt very scared and helpless.”
Because They Made Non Disclosure Agreements, All Three Women Can’t Talk About Why They Were Fired In Public:
Zambrano said that the women couldn’t talk about why they were fired in public because they had signed nondisclosure agreements.
Zambrano said that when they first went to his company, they brought their mothers with them because they felt “unsafe” talking regarding what had happened. He also said that by filing the case, they were able to obtain “their story out.”
The racial abuse claim is related to what the lawsuit calls “charged alongside racial as well as fat-phobic animus” comments delivered by touring company workers. In one case, the former dancers requested to be paid 50% of their weekly pay for their downtime, according to the lawsuit.
Someone said that in response to the request, an accountant gave them 25% and told them they were “unacceptable and disrespectful.” “This was only ever said to the dance cast of full-figured women of color,” the suit says.
The Claim Of Religious Harassment Has To Do With Quigley:
The claim of religious abuse has to do with Quigley, who was the dance captain and a judge on Lizzo’s reality show. According to the lawsuit, she told everyone she met about her Christian views and “took every chance to do so, no matter what they said.”
The suit says that when Quigley found out that Davis was a virgin, he talked about it in interviews and on social media.
And when other cast members urged her to stop pressing Rodriguez, who Quigley saw as a “non-believer,” about her religion, she said, “No job as well as no one will hinder me from sharing about the existence of the Lord.”