In the middle of her continuous controversy, singer Lizzo has been sued again, this time by her costume designer, who accused the singer of fostering a hostile work environment, racism, and fat shaming. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the lawsuit, filed on September 21 in Los Angeles Superior Court by the firm representing plaintiffs, accused Lizzo and her supervisors of engaging in perverted sexual acts, racial discrimination, sexual and religious discrimination, disability discrimination, retaliation, assault, creating a hostile work environment, and abuse of power during her ‘Big Grrl Big Touring’.
This adds to the numerous charges that the ‘Big Grrrl’ singer has already faced from her former tour dancers, who have sued Lizzo for allegedly interrogating them about their weight and compelling them to do sexually graphic actions at sex shows. According to the lawsuit, costume designer Asha Daniels, who designed pieces for the dancers on tour, described it as a “unsafe, sexually charged workplace culture” in which misconduct was encouraged by Lizzo and her wardrobe manager Amanda Nomura, in addition to the already several dozen charges and sexual harassment claims from the dancers.
“There was a group chat of over 30+ people from the BGBT team, which included Lizzo tour management and Plaintiff,” according to the complaint. “In the group message, a backstage manager sent a photo graphically depicting male genitalia.”
Daniels claims she witnessed Nomura and other supervisors “discussing hiring sex workers for lewd acts, attending sex shows, and buying hard drugs” when Lizzo’s tour arrived in Amsterdam. She alleges she was coerced into joining.
The lawsuit filed by Lizzo’s tour dancers cited a similar event earlier this year in Amsterdam, where staff was reportedly forced to connect with naked performers. Despite her reluctance, Lizzo was reported to have urged one of the plaintiffs to “touch the breasts of one of the nude women performing at the club” and “began leading a chant goading” her to do so.
According to the complaint filed by Nomura on September 21, Lizzo exposed her employees to harsh verbal harassment, and her management team was well aware of this.
The complaint details: “On several occasions, Nomura made statements and/or took physical actions to threaten Plaintiff and the entire crew: (1) she threatened Plaintiff and others that she would “kill a b***” and “stab a b***” when she could not find her medication. “(2) She shoved a crew member in retaliation for revealing she was threatening to quit. (3) Nomura snatched food out of a local worker’s hand for merely attempting to take an assigned break.”
Additionally, Daniels details a grueling work schedule in which she worked 20 hours every day. She says she was “frequently denied breaks” by Nomura, who “monitored and policed” workers under her supervision. In one instance, Nomura allegedly sprained Daniels’ ankle when she was transporting a clothing rack.
Nomura allegedly pressured Daniels to return to tennis shoes after she switched to orthopaedic shoes due to the injury. “Not only was Plaintiff denied medical treatment (on this occasion and others), but she was also forced to be on her feet for the majority of the day and denied any rest – even after rolling her ankle,” according to the complaint.