Lizzo has responded to allegations that she contributed to a hostile work setting fraught with sexual harassment, days after three former dancers for the singer filed a lawsuit detailing their claims. In an Instagram submit on Thursday, Lizzo referred to as the ladies’s claims “sensationalized tales.”
Three former dancers – Arianna Davis, Crystal Williams and Noelle Rodriguez – filed a grievance towards Lizzo’s firm, Huge Grrrl Huge Touring, in addition to the dance group captain Shirlene Quigley on Tuesday, saying, amongst different issues, that Lizzo allegedly pressured dancers to interact with nude performers in Amsterdam earlier this yr. Additionally they mentioned that dancers had been placed on “extra stringent” guidelines than different individuals who had been a part of the tour, and had been falsely accused of ingesting earlier than reveals.
Davis advised CBS Information on Wednesday that at one level, when on tour in Amsterdam, the performers had gone to a present within the pink gentle district, the place she says she and Rodriguez had been pressured to work together with a nude performer, regardless of saying “no.”
Finally, she mentioned she did it, out of concern of shedding her job and “being ostracized.”
“It is an understanding within the camp, should you do not take part, attempt to get in with Lizzo, you’ll not be booked on as many roles,” she mentioned. “She will not such as you as a lot. You can be ostracized later.”
On Thursday, Lizzo responded, saying the aftermath of the allegations has been “intestine wrenchingly troublesome and overwhelmingly disappointing.”
“Often I select not to answer false allegations however these are as unbelievable as they sound and too outrageous to not be addressed,” she mentioned. “These sensationalized tales are coming from former workers who’ve already publicly admitted that they had been advised their conduct on tour was inappropriate and unprofessional.”
Lizzo, whose actual title is Melissa Jefferson, went on to say that she takes her “music and my performances significantly.”
“With ardour comes onerous work and excessive requirements. Generally I’ve to make onerous selections but it surely’s by no means my intention to make anybody really feel uncomfortable or like they don’t seem to be valued as an necessary a part of the group,” she mentioned. “I’m not right here to be checked out as a sufferer, however I additionally know that I’m not the villain that individuals and the media have portrayed me to be these previous couple of days.”
Lizzo, who’s extensively identified for carrying a body-positive persona, mentioned she’s “very open with my sexuality and expressing myself” – however that she will not let that be used to “make me out to be one thing I’m not.”
Davis had claimed that at one level through the tour, Lizzo had expressed to her that she was “nervous” about her as a result of she had gained weight.
“I consider she was attempting to allude to the truth that I used to be gaining weight in a approach that she would not get canceled, if that is sensible,” Davis mentioned. “It was not a like, ‘you are fats, you are fired.’ It was by no means ‘you are gaining an excessive amount of weight,’ it was by no means blatant, it was very nuanced.”
Lizzo alluded to this in her assertion on Thursday, saying, “There’s nothing I take extra significantly than the respect we deserve as ladies on the earth.”
“I do know what it feels wish to be physique shamed each day and would completely by no means criticize or terminate an worker due to their weight,” she mentioned. “…I am harm however I can’t let the nice work I’ve carried out on the earth be overshadowed by this.”
