Lizzo has been sued by three of her former dancers for allegedly creating a hostile work environment and sexually harassing them, NBC News reports. The lawsuit, filed on Aug. 1, claims Lizzo pressured one of the performers to touch a nude dancer at an Amsterdam club and subjected the group to an “excruciating” audition after accusing them of drinking on the job.
The dancers accused Lizzo of bringing up one of the team member’s weight before subjecting her to ridicule and firing the member after she recorded a meeting to explain a health condition.
The Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit also accuses the captain of the dance team of calling out individuals who had premarital sex while sharing obscene sexual fantasies, re-enacting oral sex and publicly discussing the virginity of one of the accusers.
The lawsuit names Lizzo, her Big Grrrl Big Touring, Inc. production company and dance captain Shirlene Quigley as the defendants.
“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,” Ron Zambrano, the lawyer representing the three former dancers, said in a statement.
Lizzo allegedly called out dancer Arianna Davis’ weight after an appearance at the SXSW music festival. The pop star and her choreographer told Davis she seemed “less committed” to her role.
The alleged dressing down at an Amsterdam strip club trip, Bananenbar, happened after a show earlier in 2023. The lawsuit outlines the afterparties were nonmandatory, but team members who attended were favored by Lizzo and had better job security. At the club, Lizzo began inviting team members to take turns touching the nude dancers, catching dildos from the performers’ vaginas and eating bananas from the dancers’ vaginas. Lizzo then turned to Davis and began a chant for her to touch one of the nude women’s breasts, but Davis declined multiple times.
Quigley is named in the suit for allegedly harassing people with forcing her Christian beliefs on members of the team. Former dancer Noelle Rodriguez, who Quigley referred to as a “non-believer,” asked for the captain to stop pressuring her about her faith, and Quigley allegedly responded: “No job and no one will stop me from talking about the Lord.”
Crystal Williams was fired on April 26 after challenging Lizzo’s accusations that dancers were drinking before performances.
The day before, on April 25, Lizzo made the group audition again in an “excruciating” 12-hour rehearsal. If the artist wasn’t satisfied with the performances, the dancers would be fired and sent home. During the audition, Davis was fearful she’d lose her job if she went to the restroom, she soiled her pants and was given a see-through outfit with no undergarments to finish the performance, according to the lawsuit.
