It was quite shocking to find out that Lizzo, who is a plus-size singer with body-positivity songs, had fired a few of her dancers for gaining weight. That is quite drastically opposite to what the singer stands for, yet she received many allegations of fat shaming.
The lawsuit, which was filed in 2023, was finally dismissed by the Judge. It was filed by three of her former dancers for shaming them, and they also claimed that the singer fired them for their body weight. A singer who is best known for her body positive anthems, such as ‘Good As Hell and Juice’, can she shame her dancers for being all hypocritical? With this latest development, a new video statement has surfaced on social media platforms.
Lizzo said, “There was no evidence that I fired them because they gained weight,” and further added, “They were fired for taking a private recording of me without my consent and sending it off to ex-employees.” There were also allegations of sexual harassment by the dancers against Lizzo and her production house.
Although Lizzo’s team called it a “fabricated sob story,” the three dancers, namely Arianna Davis, Crystal Williams, and Noelle Rodriguez, claimed that they were pressured to attend sex shows and to interact with nude performers between 2021 and 2023. It was claimed that Lizzo “pressured Ms Davis to touch the breasts” of a dancer in a nightclub in Amsterdam. Some other incident was also cited where dancers were asked to eat fruit from the naked bodies of sex club workers.
The trial took place in court, Lizzo’s team said it was part of the singer’s creative process, and so, the dancers were well aware of the group outing. Therefore, this statement should be shielded by First Amendment free speech protections. The legal team for the dancers was also asking some crucial questions, and they said, “Under that standard, Johnny Cash could shoot ‘a man in Reno just to watch him die’ and claim protection if he hoped it would inspire his performance”. Ari Stiller urged the court to continue with trials.
Melissa Glass, Lizzo’s attorney, said, “As was true two years ago, the dancers cannot find a single person to corroborate their meritless claims,” and further added, “In contrast, 18 witnesses who worked with Lizzo on the Special tour submitted sworn statements refuting the claims made by Davis, Williams and Rodriguez. We look forward to the Court of Appeals ruling on this matter.”
Lizzo has also denied all the claims of sexual allegations, and in 2023, she said, “I am very open with my sexuality and expressing myself but I cannot accept or allow people to use that openness to make me out to be something I am not.”
She also stressed the fact that she has “only encouraged and supported people with bigger bodies and shared my platform with them.” She is determined to see the climax of this fight as she declared, “I am not settling,” and further added, “I will be fighting every single claim until the truth is out.