American rapper and pop star Lizzo has been accused for sexually harassing the dancers on her tour. The lawsuit filed against her describes in great detail how the apparent “body positive” icon not only sexually harassed people on her tour but also body shamed them and fired people on the sole basis of their identity.
Lizzo
Lizzo, first known as Melissa Viviane Jefferson, was born in Detroit, Michigan. She started her recording career in the hip hop genre during her college tenure and released her first studio album, “Lizzobangers” in 2013. She then went on to sign with record labels and release music consistently which shot up her popularity.
Career
The deluxe version of her hit single “Truth Hurts” was known to be not very promising before it was released but gained massive popularity in 2017. She gained a large fan following and amassed major fame and mainstream success from her third studio record album “Cuz I Love You” in 2019 and went only forward from there on out. This album peaked on Billboard Chartbusters, mainly the singles “Juice” and “Tempo”.
Lizzo went on to get Grammy nominations and eventually won it. She also won a US Billboard award. She has also worked as a voice actor and done a series on Amazon Prime. When recently asked about her sexuality, she says that she is an ally but leans towards heterosexual.
Through the span of her career, Lizzo has been on the receiving end of body shaming and weight shaming due to her obesity. She spoke on behalf of every body shamed person and herself and stood for body positivity. This made her popular as a body positivity figure and someone that always spoke about the importance of self confidence.
Image Source: Spiel Times
Sexual Harassment Allegations
On 1st August, a lawsuit was filed against Lizzo by former dancers from her concert tours. They claimed that Lizzo made the Tour very uncomfortable and created a very antagonistic work space. The people who filed the lawsuit were Amanda Davis, Crystal Williams and Noelle Rodriguez.
The captain of the dance team, Shirlene Quigley often forced her Christian beliefs onto other people on the tour and shamed people who engage in premarital sex. Ron Zambrano, the plaintiff’s lawyer, says that Lizzo’s management and team have portrayed her the complete opposite of everything that she actually stands for. And that she weight shames and body shames the dancers on the tour and reportedly even fired one of them.
An incident that has been brought to light is when the team was at a club in Amsterdam and there were nude performers present, who the plaintiff’s were being encouraged and pressured to touch intimately, by Lizzo. Davis, one of the plaintiff’s was the one present during this incident and was the victim to the goading of Lizzo to touch the dancers.
The other time was when they were asked to audition again and led to a painful 12 hours of rehearsal during which Davis soiled herself from the fear of being fired if she used the washroom. Crystal Williams was fired in the next week due to shortage of funds. Noelle Rodriguez quit her job after watching the horrors her colleagues are facing at the hands of the management and Lizzo herself. The lawsuit does not mention the amount of money the lawsuit claims for damages and harassment.
