Lizzo being sued by ex-dancers for sexual harassment
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Lizzo has been sued. A complaint against Lizzo was just filed in California Superior Court by three women, according to court documents obtained by XXL on Tuesday.
Numerous accusations are made against the “About Damn Time” musician in the lawsuit.
The allegations include failing to stop or address a hostile work environment, sexual harassment, racial harassment, and harassment based on one’s religion.
Lizzo, her tour firm Big Grrrl Big Tour, and Shirlene Quigley, the leader of Lizzo’s dance crew, are named as defendants in the lawsuit. Lizzo is being sued by one of the women who claims the singer brought up the dancer’s weight increase.
According to the lawsuit, the former dancer claims that after recording a meeting due to an eye issue, she was later reprimanded and fired. The lawsuit stated, “Lizzo became furious, hurling expletives at the group and stated that she was going to go around the room, person-by-person until someone told Lizzo who made the recording.”
The plaintiffs are asking for an undisclosed dollar amount for unspecified punitive damages, medical costs, and attorneys’ fees
Lizzo attained mainstream success with the release of her third studio album, Cuz I Love You (2019), which peaked at number four on the US Billboard 200. The album spawned the singles “Juice” and “Tempo“. The deluxe version of the album included Lizzo’s 2017 single “Truth Hurts” which became a viral sleeper hit two years after its initial release. It topped the US Billboard Hot 100, and became the longest-leading solo song by a female rapper. Around this time, her 2016 single “Good as Hell” also climbed the charts, reaching the top ten on the Billboard Hot 100 and UK Singles Chart. Lizzo received eight nominations at the 62nd Annual Grammy Awards, the most for any artist that year, including nominations for each of the “Big Four” categories; and eventually won the awards for Best Urban Contemporary Album, Best Pop Solo Performance for “Truth Hurts”, and Best Traditional R&B Performance for the song “Jerome“.
In 2021, Lizzo released the single “Rumors” (featuring Cardi B), which debuted in the top five of the Billboard Hot 100. Her fourth studio album Special (2022) was preceded by its lead single “About Damn Time“, which reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and made Lizzo the first Black female singer since Whitney Houston in 1994 to win the Grammy Award for Record of the Year.
Aside from rapping and singing, Lizzo has also worked as an actor: she served as a voice actor in the animated film UglyDolls (2019) and appeared in the crime comedy-drama film Hustlers (2019). She is also the host of the Amazon Prime Video reality television series Lizzo’s Watch Out for the Big Grrrls, for which she won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Competition Program.[3] In 2019, Time named Lizzo as “Entertainer of the Year” for her meteoric rise and contributions to music.[4] In addition to her four Grammy Awards, she has also won a Billboard Music Award, a BET Award, and two Soul Train Music Awards.