Bombshell lawsuit accuses Lizzo of fat-shaming and harassment

The New Daily
Aug 02, 2023, updated Aug 02, 2023

Grammy-winning singer Lizzo and her production company have been sued by three former dancers amid astonishing allegations of a hostile work environment, including weight shaming and sexually denigrating behaviour.

The lawsuit filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court on Tuesday (US time) named Lizzo, whose real name is Melissa Viviane Jefferson, her production company Big Grrrl Big Touring Inc and the captain of her dance team, Shirlene Quigley, documents showed.

Allegations by the three dancers – Arianna Davis, Crystal Williams and Noelle Rodriguez – include harassment based on sex, religion, race and disability.

The suit also accuses the 35-year-old performer, who has built a reputation for speaking out against fat-shaming and has made a point of hiring dancers with a diverse range of body types, of calling attention to one dancer’s weight gain.

Davis and Williams began performing with Lizzo after competing on her Emmy-winning Amazon reality show, Watch Out for the Big Grrrls, in 2021, according to the suit.

Rodriguez was hired the same year after performing in the video for Lizzo’s hit 2022 song Rumors.

Arianna Davis took to Instagram after news of the lawsuit broke to ask for kindness for “all parties involved”. Photo: TND/Instagram/@aridavis5678

Not every claim in the lawsuit was brought against each defendant.

“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 demoralising,” Ron Zambrano, the dancers’ lawyer, said.

The suit does not specify a dollar amount for damages that cover emotional distress, including unpaid wages, loss of earnings and legal fees.

Lizzo is yet to publicly respond.

But there has been support for the dancers’ allegations from Quinn Wilson (Lizzo’s former creative director), Courtney Hollinquest (a former dancer) and Sophia Allison (a filmmaker who claims she was initially asked to direct a 2019 documentary about Lizzo).

“I haven’t been a part of that world for around three years, for a reason. I very much applaud the dancers courage to bring this to light,” Wilson wrote on Instagram.

“And I grieve parts of my own experience. I’d appreciate space to understand my feelings.”

Amsterdam club claims

Among its allegations, the legal action claims that Lizzo pressured Davis to touch a nude performer at Amsterdam strip club Bananenbar earlier this year.

In Paris a week later, Lizzo allegedly invited her dancers to a club to “learn” or “be inspired”, but failed to mention that it was a nude cabaret bar.

In the court documents, Davis also claims she was told by Lizzo and her choreographer that she seemed “less committed” to her role – which Davis took as a “thinly veiled” jab at her weight.

Among other claims are that Lizzo allegedly forced the group to re-audition, with a threat of dismissal, because she believed they were drinking before performances.

This apparently led to an “excruciating” 12 hour-long rehearsal, during which Davis said she was so scared she’d lose her job if she went to the bathroom that she soiled her clothing.

According to the suit, Williams was publicly fired on April 26, days after telling Lizzo the dancers didn’t drink.

After Davis admitted to recording an earlier meeting, the dancers allege Quigley and Lizzo took turns berating Davis, before Davis was fired on the spot.

There is also an allegation of false imprisonment levelled against Lizzo’s production company because a security staffer allegedly held Davis in a room after a meeting so he could search her phone.

There is also a racial harassment claim of insults targeting Lizzo’s dancers, who were all “full-figured women of colour”.

Source: TND/Instagram/@shirlenequigley

Religious harassment claim

Quigley, who also worked as a judge on Watch Out for the Big Grrrls, is accused of pressuring other performers to convert to Christianity despite their protests, and denigrating those who had premarital sex.

The suit also claims Quigley shared lewd sexual fantasies, simulated oral sex and when she found out Davis was a virgin, publicly discussed the dancer’s virginity.

Mr Zambrano said the trio believed Lizzo was aware of their complaints.

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