A complaint was filed on Tuesday alleging that three of Lizzo’s tour dancers accused the singer of sexual harassment and of inciting a hostile work environment through a series of incidents between 2021 and 2023.
Additionally, the dancers claimed that Lizzo, a well-known proponent of body acceptance and self-love, had criticised one dancer for gaining weight recently and then reprimanded, then dismissed, that dancer for having eating disorder.
Lizzo is accused of forcing one dancer to touch a nude performer at a club in Amsterdam and forcing several dancers to endure a “excruciating” 12-hour tryout after falsely accusing them of drinking while working, according to the lawsuit, which was filed in Los Angeles.
Shirlene Quigley, Lizzo’s dance captain, is accused in the lawsuit of pushing her Christian beliefs on other dancers, disparaging those who engaged in premarital sex, imitating oral sex, expressing filthy sexual fantasies, and talking about one dancer’s virginity.
Although the dancers Arianna Davis, Crystal Williams, and Noelle Rodriguez, who are the plaintiffs in the action, do not know whether Lizzo was aware of Quigley’s alleged behaviour, their attorney, Ron Zambrano, believes she was.
The defendants in the lawsuit are Quigley, Lizzo (real name Melissa Viviane Jefferson), her production company Big Grrrl Big Touring, Inc., and Lizzo. There are allegations of sexual harassment, creating a hostile work environment, wrongful incarceration, and interfering with potential financial gain. Not every defendant was the target of every claim.
“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,” Zambrano said in a statement.
