“I’m about to get into my feelings,” Lizzo sings in her ‘About Damn Time’ tune from 2022.
This week, the Grammy winner and recent Quincy Jones Humanitarian Award recipient made her feelings very clear about a sexual harassment, assault, discrimination and fostering a “hostile work environment” lawsuit brought against her by former tour dancers and Lizzo’s Watch Out for the Big Grrrls contestants.
The Marty Singer represented Lizzo wants Arianna Davis, Crystal Williams and Noelle Rodriguez legal action from earlier this summer “dismissed in its entirety with prejudice.” In the otherwise pretty standard September 27 response filing, the Juice singer, real name Melissa Jefferson, denies “each and every allegation” against her and production company Big Grrrl touring company (read Lizzo’s legal response here).
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“This is the first step of a legal process in which Lizzo and her team will demonstrate that they have always practiced what they’ve preached – whether it comes to promoting body positivity, leading a safe and supportive workplace or protecting individuals from any kind of harassment,” a spokesperson for Lizzo’s legal team declared today. “Any and all claims to the contrary are ridiculous, and we look forward to proving so in a court of law.”
All of which means, if Lizzo can’t get the “outrageous,” as she called it back in August, suit tossed out, the UTA-repped Lizzo wants it brought before a jury – as plaintiffs A point Davis, Williams and Rodriguez themselves have requested, and their lawyer noted today.
“Lizzo’s answer merely consists of boilerplate objections that have nothing to do with the case,” asserted attorney Neama Rahmani. “That said, the key takeaway is that Lizzo is agreeing to our clients’ demand for a jury trial. We look forward to presenting our case in court and letting a panel of her peers decide who is telling the truth, Lizzo and her team who continue to shame the victims or the plaintiffs and so many others who have come forward sharing similar stories of abuse and harassment.”
Hitting the music industry like a tidal wave, the suit put an almost immediate damper on Lizzo with her fans, sales, Beyonce and more.
Along with the top line claims, Davis, Williams and Rodriguez said they were body-shamed, and forced to attend Paris sex shows. The trio also claimed they were put through an “excruciating” audition for their own jobs after being accused of drinking on the clock, as well as held to hardcore “soft hold” retainers.
Despite online pushback from Lizzo and her PR team, Davis, Williams, and Rodriguez seem to have opened a plethora of accusations against the singer and her tour team.
Oscar nominee Sophia Nahli Allison went public on August 2 to tell her social media followers that she was “treated with such disrespect” by Lizzo that the documentary filmmaker decided to exit a high-profile project with the multi-Grammy winner.
Just a few days ago, Asha Daniels, a wardrobe designer who worked on Lizzo’s 2023 tour, filed a lawsuit of her own in LASC against Lizzo under her real name, Big Grrrl Big Touring, Inc. (BGBT), wardrobe manager Amanda Nomura and tour manager Carlina Gugliotta. Seeking unspecified damages, Daniels claims she experienced racial and sexual harassment, disability discrimination, illegal retaliatory termination, and assault, among other things.
Lizzo’s “Special” tour started on September 23, 2002 and ended in Japan on July 30.
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