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Three former Lizzo dancers are suing the singer on allegations of sexual harassment and fostering a hostile work environment.
On Tuesday (August 1), the dancers filed a lawsuit against Lizzo in Los Angeles Superior Court, alleging that she pressured one of them to touch a nude performer at an Amsterdam club and weight-shamed a performer after an appearance at South by Southwest (SXSW) music festival among other allegations.
“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 dancers' lawyer, Ron Zambrano, said in a statement per NBC News.
The plaintiffs of the suit are former dancers Arianna Davis and Crystal Williams, both of whom began working with Lizzo in 2021 after competing on her reality show Watch Out for the Big Grrrls and were later fired. The third, Nancy Rodriguez, was also brought on in 2021 after performing in Lizzo's music video "Rumors." Rodriguez quit earlier this year.
Davis alleges that Lizzo and her choreographer called attention to her weight, saying that she seemed "less committed to her role," a comment that she believes was a "thinly veiled" concern about her body.
The suit also details a trip to Bananenbar, an Amsterdam strip club, which occurred after a performance earlier this year. Lizzo 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,” per the suit. “Lizzo then turned her attention to Ms. Davis and began pressuring Ms. Davis to touch the breasts of one of the nude women.”
When Davis declined to touch the woman, Lizzo allegedly led a group chant, coercing her to do so. Lizzo also allegedly pressured one of her staff members to get on stage at the club and "take it off," according to 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 states.
The suit also alleges religious and racial harassment, false imprisonment, interference with prospective economic advantage, and other allegations. Defendants include Lizzo, her production company, Big Grrrl Big Touring, and her dance captain, Shirlene Quigley. Quigley is specifically accused of "proselytizing to other performers and deriding those who had premarital sex while sharing lewd sexual fantasies, simulating oral sex and publicly discussing the virginity of one of the plaintiffs," per NBC News.
Lizzo and Quigley haven't responded to requests for comment on the lawsuit.
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