Lizzo finally opens up on sexual harassment case filed by her former dancers

Disclaimer: This article includes mention of sexual assault.

Grammy-winning Lizzo has publicly addressed allegations of weight-shaming, sexual assault, and fostering a toxic work environment post a lawsuit brought by her former dancers.

She hasn’t been interviewed in-depth since the accusations were made. Arianna Davis, Crystal Williams, and Noelle Rodriguez—three of Lizzo’s former dancers—filed a lawsuit against the singer in Los Angeles Superior Court in August 2023.

The plaintiffs claimed that they were subjected to sexual harassment, weight-shaming, and abusive behavior during rehearsals while working on Lizzo’s 2022 play Watch Out for the Big Grrrls. Rodriguez quit earlier in 2023, while Davis and Williams were dismissed from the show, according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit also described an event that happened when the dancers were traveling to Amsterdam, where they were allegedly coerced into engaging in improper behavior at a strip club. Despite her repeated denials, Davis said Lizzo forced her to touch a performer’s breasts.

The plaintiffs’ lawyer, Ron Zambrano, mentioned, “The stunning nature of how Lizzo and her management team treated their performers seems to go against everything Lizzo stands for publicly.”

In an interview with Baby, This Is Keke Palmer, the singer talked about how the charges hurt her, especially because she had respected and given these dancers opportunities.

“I was very deeply hurt,” Lizzo added. “Because these were three ex-dancers, so they weren’t on the tour. They didn’t, like, finish the tour out with us. But even regardless of that, these were people that I gave opportunities to. These were people that I liked and appreciated as dancers, respected them as dancers.”

Lizzo was also accused in the case of putting the dancers through difficult working circumstances, such as exhausting 12-hour practices. Lizzo was charged with fostering an atmosphere in which dancers were afraid of losing their jobs if they failed to live up to her expectations.

“Some of these claims…there are so many inconsistencies and just things that never happened,” Lizzo stated

Lizzo admitted that the experience as a boss taught her important lessons, and she made a commitment to approach leadership in a different way going forward. She declared that instead of treating her staff like friends, she would approach them differently in the future.