Lizzo’s former backup dancers have hit back after Lizzo broke her silence following the lawsuit they filed against her earlier this week.
Lizzo has been sued by the dancers, Arianna Davis, Crystal Williams and Noelle Rodriguez, who have accused her of sexual, racial, and religious harassment and creating a hostile work environment, among other claims.
Lizzo addressed the allegations on Thursday, denying the claims and labelled them “outrageous”.
“I am not here to be looked at as a victim, but I also know that I am not the villain that people and the media have portrayed me to be these last few days,” the Grammy Award winner wrote in the statement. “I am very open with my sexuality and expressing myself but I cannot accept or allow people to use that openness to make me out to be something I am not.”
Soon after Lizzo’s statement was posted, the dancers reacted to it during an interview with Channel 4.
“Initially for me, it just further deepened my disappointment in regards to how I was feeling and how I was treated,” Williams, who joined Lizzo’s dance team in 2021, said.
“I think the overall theme in all this is that our experiences were our experiences and our traumas were our traumas. In bringing that forward, it feels like it was disregarded completely,” Williams added. “It feels like we were made out to be putting out false allegations when that’s not the case.”
“So yes, it was very disheartening to read and feel overlooked especially when she stands for what she stands for in regards to women’s empowerment – being an advocate for mental health, being an advocate for body positivity – and to just further prove that that’s not the case, because nothing was acknowledged in that statement,” the dancer stated.
Additionally, in a joint appearance with Williams on CBS News, Davis addressed her claims that Lizzo had forced her to touch a nude performer while in a strip club in Amsterdam.
“I did not ask for it. I said no multiple times,” Davis, who also joined the team in 2021, said. “I was very, very mortified, everyone burst into laughter,” she added.
In addition Lizzo, the lawsuit was filed against her production company Big Grrrl Big Touring, Inc. and dance captain Shirlene Quigley.
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