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Lizzo and her production company are being sued by three of their former dancers.
Variety viewed the legal complaint filed by Lizzo's former dancers, Arianna Davis, Crystal Williams, and Noelle Rodriguez. The trio accuses Lizzo, her company Big Grrrl Big Touring, Inc. (BGBT), and Shirlene Quigley (the captain of the dance team) of sexual, religious, and racial harassment.
Additionally, the plaintiffs accuse Lizzo and Co. of disability discrimination, assault and false imprisonment, and even more charges.
There is a tidbit included in the report that alleges that the dancers were pressured into touching nude dancers during a live sex show in Amsterdam's Red Light District. The three feared for their jobs if they didn't comply.
“The main event of the night was a club called Bananenbar, where patrons are allowed to interact with completely nude performers,” the suit says. “While at Banaenbar, things quickly got out of hand. Lizzo began inviting cast members to take turns touching the n**e performers, catching d****s launched from the performers’ v*****s, and eating bananas protruding from the performers’ v*****s. Lizzo then turned her attention to Ms. Davis and began pressuring Ms. Davis to touch the b*****s of one of the nude women performing at the club. Lizzo began leading a chant goading Ms. Davis. Ms. Davis said three times, loud enough for all to hear, ‘I’m good,’ expressing her desire not to touch the performer.”
It continues, “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.”
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The lawsuit also alleges that Lizzo would invite them out again without disclosing that they would be attending a n**e cabaret bar.
Lizzo and Co. also called out one of the dancers for weight gain and accused her of not being committed to her role. “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, which Lizzo had previously called attention to after noticing it at the South by Southwest music festival,” the lawsuit said. “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, which Lizzo had previously called attention to after noticing it at the South by Southwest music festival.”
Davis also was fired for recording g a meeting where Lizzo gave feedback. to the dancers. Williams claims that she was publicly fired — an intimidation tactic frequently used by the rapper — due to “budget cuts” while the lawsuit makes light of the fact that no one else was fired that day. She had previously spoken up in a meeting where Lizzo accused the dancers of drinking before performances.
The attorney of the dancers, Ron Zambrano, said to Variety: “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.”
