Celebrity has become an oxymoron these days.
The Grammy Award-winning Hollywood singer who famously gained weight and went viral on TikTok for showing off her bare butt to her young fans, Lizzo's former backup dancers have officially filed a lawsuit accusing her of sexual harassment.
Last summer, dancers Ariana Davis, Crystal Williams and Noel Rodriguez claimed that Lizzo “MeToo'ed” them during her own tour and while competing on “Lizzo's Watch Out for the Big Grrrls” in early 2021.
The Daily News reported,
While Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Mark H. Epstein ruled this week to dismiss several charges — including the accusation that Lizzo exposed a dancer — he denied the singer's request to dismiss the entire lawsuit, multiple media outlets reported Friday.
After the ruling, the 35-year-old Grammy winner requested a jury trial.
In a statement to ET, Lizzo said she was “glad” some of the accusations were dropped even though they were all previously refuted.
Lizzo plans to sue her backup dancers, which will take her to court, TMZ reports.
Her lawyer says the photos show the dancers returning to a topless cabaret show in Paris, where Lizzo allegedly pressured them to eat bananas from the dancers' vaginas, a month after the incident. pic.twitter.com/wAwJ66uvFH
– Pop Base (@PopBase) August 23, 2023
“Lizzo is grateful to the judge because he saw a lot of the hype and recognized who she was — a strong woman who exists to uplift others and spread positivity,” Friedman said. “We plan to appeal all elements the judge chose to keep in the lawsuit and are confident we will prevail.”
Ron Zambrano, an attorney for the plaintiffs, told the outlet he was “very pleased” with Epstein’s ruling.
Zambrano said he rejected some of the allegations, including a meeting in which Ariana was body-shamed, had nude photos taken, and forced dancers to lie in wait while they were not touring, but noted that “all the other allegations remain, including… That is the sexual, religious and racial discrimination, the sexual harassment, the humiliating visits to Bar Bananen in Amsterdam and Crazy Horse in Paris, the false imprisonment, and the assault.
According to Zambrano, the ruling also sends a strong message to Hollywood that Lizzo — or any celebrity for that matter — is not immune to this type of behavior just because she's famous. “We now look forward to conducting discovery and preparing the case for trial.”
In addition to some of Lizzo's employees who chose to stand by her, more dancers, her former wardrobe designer, and a filmmaker who was supposed to direct a documentary about her also joined the list of people accused.
