One of Lizzo’s former backup dancers who has filed a lawsuit towards the singer has mentioned she is “contradicting everything she stands for behind the scenes”.
The trio of dancers declare the singer pressured considered one of them into touching a nude performer at an Amsterdam membership, in addition to falsely accusing them of ingesting on the job.
The lawsuit additionally accuses the captain of Lizzo’s dance staff, Shirlene Quigley, of making an attempt to transform the performers’ non secular beliefs and deriding those that had premarital intercourse, and in addition sharing lewd sexual fantasies and publicly discussing the virginity of one of many complainants.
Two of the performers, Arianna Davis and Crystal Williams, started performing with Lizzo after competing on her Amazon actuality present “Watch Out for the Big Grrrls” in 2021 however had been each later fired.
The third, Noelle Rodriguez, was employed in the identical 12 months after performing within the video “Rumours” however resigned earlier this 12 months.
Lizzo, whose actual title is Melissa Jefferson, is thought for embracing physique positivity, however Ms Davis claims the star made feedback about her placing on weight earlier than firing her.
She advised CBS News when she expressed she was “proud” of herself for her work on the tour, Lizzo mentioned she was “worried” about her at one level as a result of Ms Davis had placed on weight.
“I believe she was trying to allude to the fact that I was gaining weight in a way that she wouldn’t get cancelled, if that makes sense,” Ms Davis mentioned.
“It was not a like, ‘you’re fat, you’re fired.’ It was never ‘you’re gaining too much weight,’ it was never blatant, it was very nuanced.”
Ms Davis claims Lizzo advised the dancers they need to be grateful as a result of dancers would sometimes get fired in the event that they gained weight.
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Pic: AP
‘She’s contradicting every little thing she stands for behind the scenes’
Ms Williams mentioned Lizzo’s message of physique positivity and equality for various races and genders made it her “absolute dream job”.
“We had this high start, and then over time, as reality kind of sets in and you’re seeing that everything is not the way it seems, that there’s a lot of things that go on behind the scenes, your ideas of things quickly start to shift,” she advised CBS News.
“Everything that she stands for as an artist is a big reason as to why I think people stand behind her as much as they do.
“To me, I simply could not sit with the truth that this was taking place behind the scenes, and this can be a huge a part of her fan base, however she’s form of contradicting every little thing she stands for behind the scenes.”
Pic: AP
‘Pressured into touching a nude performer’
The dancers mentioned Lizzo and Ms Quigley pressured them into going to a present in Amsterdam’s purple mild district, with Ms Davis saying she and Ms Rodriguez had been pressured into touching a nude performer.
Ms Davis mentioned she tried to disregard what was occurring however Lizzo singled her out, chanted her title and pressured her to the touch the performer regardless that she mentioned no a number of instances.
“She was kind of going around, inviting people to touch the nude performers. And I guess it was my turn,” Ms Davis mentioned.
She added: “I briefly touched (the performer), and everyone started laughing. It was funny to them, because me, of all people, they see me as a very modest person. Me touching a nude person was hilarious to them.”
She mentioned she was “mortified”.
‘Falsely accused of ingesting earlier than exhibits’
The dancers additionally mentioned they had been falsely accused of ingesting earlier than exhibits, telling CBS News that “was never the case”.
“In fact, alcohol was never even allowed in our dressing room or on our rider, which is the food and drinks provided to us. So, it was physically impossible for us to do that,” Ms Davis mentioned.
“But we were the ones that were blamed for drinking on the job. It was stated to us, by Lizzo, she was like, ‘It doesn’t matter if I am doing it, doesn’t matter if the band, or anyone else is doing it, you guys can’t do it.'”
They mentioned they denied the accusations to Lizzo however Ms Davis and Ms Williams had been quickly let go from their jobs.
Lizzo is but to remark publicly on the allegations.
Content Source: information.sky.com