Celebrities are becoming an oxymoron these days.
A Grammy-winning Hollywood singer who is most famous for being overweight and going viral on TikTok for showing her bare backside to her young audience, Lizzo’s former backup dancers, have officially filed a lawsuit accusing her of sexual harassment.
Last summer, dancers Arianna Davis, Crystal Williams, and Noelle Rodriguez alleged that Lizzo “MeToo’ed” them during her Special tour and while competing on “Lizzo’s Watch Out for the Big Grrrls” in early 2021.
While Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Marc H. Epstein ruled this week to toss several of the accusations — including one that Lizzo fat-shamed a dancer — he denied the singer’s motion to dismiss the entire suit, multiple outlets reported Friday.
Following the ruling, the 35-year-old Grammy winner requested a jury trial.
In a statement to ET, Lizzo said she was “pleased” some of the allegations were thrown out despite previously disputing all of them.
Lizzo plans to sue backup dancers who are taking her to court, TMZ reports.
Her attorney says photos show the dancers returned to the topless cabaret show in Paris, where they claim Lizzo pressured them to eat bananas from performers’ vaginas, a month after the incident. pic.twitter.com/wAwJ66uvFH
— Pop Base (@PopBase) August 23, 2023
“Lizzo is grateful to the judge for seeing through much of the noise and recognizing who she is — a strong woman who exists to lift others up and spread positivity,” Friedman said. “We plan to appeal all elements that 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 is “very pleased” with Epstein’s ruling.
“He did dismiss a few allegations, including the meeting where Arianna was fat-shamed, the nude photo shoot, and dancers being forced to be on ‘hold’ while not on tour,” Zambrano said, but noted that “all the other claims remain, including sexual, religious and racial discrimination, sexual harassment, the demeaning visits to the Bananenbar in Amsterdam and Crazy Horse in Paris, false imprisonment, and assault.”
According to Zambrano, the ruling also sends a strong message to Hollywood that Lizzo – or any celebrity for that matter – is not immune from this sort of conduct just because she is famous. “We now look forward to conducting discovery and preparing the case for trial.”
In addition to some employees of Lizzo 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 with accusations.
