Lizzo has issued a statement in response to her former dancers’ claims against her.
Ndz / GC Images
On Tuesday, three of the singer’s former employees — Arianna Davis, Crystal Williams, and Noelle Rodriguez — filed a lawsuit accusing her of sexual harassment and creating a hostile work environment.
Don Arnold / WireImage
In the suit, the performers allege that Lizzo berated and later fired a dancer over their weight gain. They also claim that she once pressured her dancers to participate in a sex show in Amsterdam, apparently “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.”
Dave J Hogan / Dave J. Hogan / Getty Images
Advertisement
Lizzo is named in the suit along with her production company, Big Grrrl Big Touring, and dance captain, Shirlene Quigley. However, each of the defendants are facing different allegations.
Frazer Harrison / Getty Images
Notably, director Sophia Nahli Allison took to Instagram to share her experience with Lizzo, saying that she stepped back from a documentary about the singer that she’d been chosen to direct after feeling disrespected by her.
Michael Tullberg / Getty Images
In a statement, a lawyer for the plaintiffs said that Lizzo and her management team’s alleged treatment of their employees “seems to go against everything Lizzo stands for publicly.”
Joseph Okpako / WireImage
Advertisement
And now, the 35-year-old singer has issued a response to the lawsuit, claiming that the dancers’ allegations are “false.”
Dimitrios Kambouris / Getty Images for MTV/Paramount Global
Calling the last few days “gut-wrenchingly difficult and overwhelmingly disappointing,” she wrote on Instagram that she typically chooses not to respond to “false allegations,” but said that her former employees’ claims are “too outrageous to not be addressed.”
Astrida Valigorsky / Getty Images
“These sensationalized stories are coming from former employees who have already publicly admitted that they were told their behavior on tour was inappropriate and unprofessional,” Lizzo said, before alluding to the dancer who claims they were unfairly fired.
Neilson Barnard / Getty Images for The Recording Academy
Advertisement
She continued: “There is nothing I take more seriously than the respect we deserve as women in the world. I know what it feels like to be body shamed on a daily basis and would absolutely never criticize or terminate an employee because of their weight.”
Jim Dyson / Getty Images
{{ blurb }}
{{/blurb}} {{#picture_url}}