Bombshell lawsuit accuses Lizzo of fat-shaming and harassment

Grammy-winning singer Lizzo and her production company have been sued by three former dancers amid astonishing allegations of a hostile work environment, including weight shaming and sexually denigrating behaviour.
The lawsuit filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court on Tuesday (US time) named Lizzo, whose real name is Melissa Viviane Jefferson, her production company Big Grrrl Big Touring Inc and the captain of her dance team, Shirlene Quigley, documents showed.
Allegations by the three dancers – Arianna Davis, Crystal Williams and Noelle Rodriguez – include harassment based on sex, religion, race and disability.
The suit also accuses the 35-year-old performer, who has built a reputation for speaking out against fat-shaming and has made a point of hiring dancers with a diverse range of body types, of calling attention to one dancer’s weight gain.
Davis and Williams began performing with Lizzo after competing on her Emmy-winning Amazon reality show, Watch Out for the Big Grrrls, in 2021, according to the suit.
Rodriguez was hired the same year after performing in the video for Lizzo’s hit 2022 song Rumors.

Arianna Davis took to Instagram after news of the lawsuit broke to ask for kindness for “all parties involved”. Photo: TND/Instagram/@aridavis5678
Not every claim in the lawsuit was brought against each defendant.
“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 demoralising,” Ron Zambrano, the dancers’ lawyer, said.
The suit does not specify a dollar amount for damages that cover emotional distress, including unpaid wages, loss of earnings and legal fees.
Lizzo is yet to publicly respond.
But there has been support for the dancers’ allegations from Quinn Wilson (Lizzo’s former creative director), Courtney Hollinquest (a former dancer) and Sophia Allison (a filmmaker who claims she was initially asked to direct a 2019 documentary about Lizzo).
“I haven’t been a part of that world for around three years, for a reason. I very much applaud the dancers courage to bring this to light,” Wilson wrote on Instagram.
“And I grieve parts of my own experience. I’d appreciate space to understand my feelings.”
Amsterdam club claims
Among its allegations, the legal action claims that Lizzo pressured Davis to touch a nude performer at Amsterdam strip club Bananenbar earlier this year.
In Paris a week later, Lizzo allegedly invited her dancers to a club to “learn” or “be inspired”, but failed to mention that it was a nude cabaret bar.