Performing Cement Truck Lizzo Sued by Backup Dancers Who Allege Intolerable Sexual Harrassment

Her backup dancers also accuse Lizzo of "fat-phobic" treatment and "weight-shaming," which is, in legal terms, "a real howdoyoudo."

Now, I'm posting this because it's funny and because Lizzo is giant turd factory whose assembly lines have gone crazy, but the allegations here are, legally speaking, a lot of petty nonsense that some people who got fired are trying to contrive into Payoff Material.

Singer Lizzo is being sued by three of her former dancers for sexual harassment and creating a hostile work environment, according to a suit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court Tuesday on their behalf.

The suit, obtained by Fox News Digital, also alleges the plaintiffs were pressured to touch a nude performer at an Amsterdam nightclub, endure an "excruciating" audition after claims of unprofessionalism and drinking on the job, and that they were prevented from finding work outside the tour.

Representatives for Lizzo did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.

"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," the lawyer for the plaintiffs, Ron Zambrano, said in a statement.

Two of the plaintiffs, Arianna Davis and Crystal Williams, began working with Lizzo after competing on her Amazon reality show, "Watch Out for the Big Grrrls," in 2021, and were later fired, according to the suit.

The third plaintiff, Noelle Rodriguez, was hired the same year after performing in the music video for Lizzo's song "Rumors" and later resigned.

Davis claims she was questioned about her body after a performance at the South by Southwest festival, saying comments about her seeming "less committed" to her role on tour were "thinly veiled concerns" about her gaining weight.

Thinly-veiled comments about being fat? Well-played.

Lizzo, born Melissa Jefferson, is described as "relentless" in her questioning, as well as in other instances in the suit, particularly a night out in Amsterdam's red-light district after a performance.

While there, she allegedly pressured Davis and others into touching the nude performers, which they say they did because they felt refusing may have hurt their employment. The suit also claimed Lizzo "badgered" a security guard into going onstage, where she pulled his pants down, and he was then whipped by the performers.

"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 complaint states.

They're trying to transform the security guard's possible (weak) claim into their own claim.

There was also an alleged re-auditioning process that came after rumors of supposed unprofessionalism and false accusations of drinking before shows, the plaintiffs claim.

Lizzo was unprofessional for accusing them of drinking before shows?

How much you wanna bet they were drinking before shows?

Shortly after this process, Davis claims she was fired for recording audio of rehearsal notes that she later deleted. Williams was previously let go "under the guise of budget cuts."

You were fired twice, you say? I'm just not getting an Employee of the Month vibe here.

The complaint says Rodriguez resigned after speaking up during one of the rehearsals and nearly became involved in an altercation with Lizzo.

"Lizzo aggressively approached Ms. Rodriquez, cracking her knuckles, balling her fists, and exclaiming, 'You're lucky. You're so f---ing lucky!' Ms. Rodriguez feared that Lizzo intended to hit her and would have done so if one of the other dancers had not intervened," the complaint states. "Neither security nor management did anything to de-escalate the situation. As Lizzo left the room, she raised both her middle fingers and yelled, 'Bye, b----!'"

I mean... I guess that's simple assault? I guess that's worth a few thou?

The suit claims Davis was forced to stay behind in her room after her recording was discovered, leading to a false imprisonment allegation.

So, like I said, they're just taking anything that happened and then spinning some kind of a claim out of it.

Lizzo's dance captain, Shirlene Quigley, is also listed in the filing and alleged to have pushed her religious beliefs on performers while simultaneously shaming those who disagreed. She also allegedly shared her own sexual fantasies and practices with the dancers and routinely discussed the virginity of one of the plaintiffs, Davis.

The suit does not specify if Lizzo knew about the claims against Quigley.

They also claim that they were put on a contractual "soft hold" during times they were not actually working, but Lizzo wanted them to be available for work.

That's something you can quit over -- but I don't think you can sue for it.

They claimed they weren't being paid at all during this "soft hold" time when they were not working but not allowed to work for someone else, but then were paid 50% of their normal rate while not working.

And then they said that Lizzo, who is black, racially discriminated against black dancers.

"Specifically, BGBT management treated the Black members of the dance team differently than other members. BGBT's management team consisted entirely of white Europeans who often accused the Black members of the dance team of being lazy, unprofessional, and having bad attitudes," according to the lawsuit.

"Not only do these words ring familiar as tropes used to disparage and discourage Black women from advocating for themselves, but the same accusations were not levied against dancers who are not Black."

I'm just going to put myself in risk of a defamation lawsuit and say that this lawsuit screams "lazy," "unprofessional," "bad attitude," and "day-drinking."

The complaint alleges only the dance team "comprised of full-figured women of color" were treated poorly by Lizzo and others listed in the filing.

"Only the dance cast -- comprised of full-figured women of color -- were ever spoken to in this manner, giving Plaintiffs the impression that these comments were charged with racial and fat-phobic animus."

The obese black woman Lizzo is discriminating against other obese black women.

As much as I'd love that to be true, this just sounds like a big pile of crap to me.

posted by Ace at 03:20 PM

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