Lizzo Daniel DeSlover/Shutterstock
Dancers Arianna Davis, Crystal Williams and Noelle Rodriguez aren’t impressed with Lizzo’s response to their lawsuit.
The trio opened as much as Leisure Tonight after Lizzo, 35, issued a prolonged assertion denying their hostile work setting accusations. “I believe for me, it’s simply very fascinating to be so open and real concerning the trauma that we skilled and to be open concerning the harm that she brought on us, for her to [respond back by] basically gaslighting us,” Williams claimed on Thursday, August 3. “She by no means acknowledged any of the claims [directly] that we’ve introduced ahead to the desk.”
Williams argued that Lizzo’s response “solidifies the sample” of what she and her fellow dancers allegedly skilled whereas working for the Grammy winner. “Each time we deliver up a problem, each time we advocate for ourselves, each time we communicate up for ourselves, we’re met with retaliation as an alternative of, ‘OK, you skilled this. As an artist and what I characterize, I don’t need you to really feel like I don’t care about you,’” she continued. “‘I don’t need you to really feel like I don’t need to embody you. I don’t need you to really feel like I’m body-shaming you. If that is what you’re feeling, I would utterly disagree with you however, I can at the very least attempt to hear you out to see how we will go transferring ahead.’”
The obvious lack of accountability “additional proves” the dancers’ claims. “We have been continually being gaslit, and she or he’s continually deflecting,” Williams stated.
Us Weekly confirmed on Tuesday, August 1, that Lizzo, her Massive Grrrl Massive Touring manufacturing firm and dance captain Shirlene Quigley have been sued. Davis, Williams and Rodriguez alleged that they skilled non secular harassment, incapacity discrimination, sexual harassment and extra as a part of Lizzo’s troupe.
Lizzo responded two days later with a prolonged Instagram assertion calling out the “false” and “unbelievable” accusations. “These sensationalized tales are coming from former workers who’ve already publicly admitted that they have been informed their conduct on tour was inappropriate and unprofessional,” she alleged on Thursday. “As an artist, I’ve all the time been very enthusiastic about what I do. I take my music and my performances significantly as a result of on the finish of the day, I solely need to put out one of the best artwork that represents me and my followers.”
Lizzo asserted that she is “not the villain” that the dancers declare she is. “There’s nothing I take extra significantly than the respect we deserve as ladies on this planet,” she wrote, including that she felt “harm” by the lawsuit’s narrative.
As extra particulars concerning the lawsuit emerged, filmmaker Sophia Nahli Allison shared her personal expertise of collaborating with Lizzo in 2019. Allison briefly labored with the singer on a tour documentary however in the end exited the undertaking.
“I walked away after about 2 weeks. I used to be handled with such disrespect by her,” she tweeted on Tuesday, claiming she “felt gaslit and was deeply harm” by Lizzo.
Relating to litigation, legal professional Neama Rahmani thinks the dancers could be ready to deliver their allegations to trial. “We by no means know. Most circumstances do settle, however that is one I can simply see going to trial, as a result of generally entertainers, whether or not it’s simply denial or narcissism, they’re unwilling to just accept that they perhaps have achieved one thing unsuitable,” the lawyer completely informed Us.
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Rahmani hinted {that a} “decision” may very well be “potential” if all events performed their playing cards proper. “The ball’s in Lizzo’s court docket now, and we’ll see what she and her legal professionals do, and that’ll actually decide whether or not this case will get litigated or tried,” he stated.
