Lizzo and her production company are being accused of sexual harassment and creating a hostile work environment by a trio of the team’s former dancers, according to a legal complaint filed Tuesday.
The lawsuit, independently viewed by PvNew, was filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court againstLizzo (real name Melissa Viviane Jefferson), her production company Big Grrrl Big Touring, Inc. (BGBT), and Shirlene Quigley, captain of Lizzo’s dance team.
The dancers — plaintiffsArianna Davis,Crystal WilliamsandNoelle Rodriguez— have alleged sexual, religious and racial harassment, disability discrimination, assault and false imprisonment, among a slew of other charges.
One of the most striking details of the suit alleges dancers werepressured — due to fear of losing their jobs — to touch nude dancers during a live sex show in Amsterdam’s Red Light District, notoriously known for its prostitution, sex theaters, nude bars and clubs.
“The main event of the night was a club called Bananenbar, where patrons are allowed to interact with completely nude performers,” the lawsuit states. “While at Bananenbar, things quickly got out of hand. Lizzo began inviting cast members to take turns touching the nude performers, catching dildos launched from the performers’ vaginas, and eating bananas protruding from the performers’ vaginas. Lizzo then turned her attention to Ms. Davis and began pressuring Ms. Davis to touch the breasts of one of the nude women performing at the club. Lizzo began leading a chant goading Ms. Davis. Ms. Davis said three times, loud enough for all to hear, ‘I’m good,’ expressing her desire not to touch the performer.”
The complaint continues, “Plaintiffs were aghast with how little regard Lizzo showed for the bodily autonomy of her employees and those around her, especially in the presence of many people whom she employed.”
A representative for Lizzo did not immediately respond to PvNew‘s request for comment.
Plaintiffs also allege Lizzo again invited them out without telling them they would be attending a nude cabaret bar — “robbing them of the choice not to participate,” the lawsuit states.
Another particular instance accuses Quigley, the dance captain who also doubled as a judge on Lizzo’s Amazon reality show, “Watch Out for the Big Grrrls,” in 2021, of pushing her Christian beliefs onto dancers. According to the suit, after discovering that Davis was a virgin, Quigley routinely discussed the subject, brought it up in interviews and even posted about it on social media (“broadcasting an intensely personal detail about Ms. Davis to the world”).
Quigley also allegedly referred to Rodriguez as a “non-believer,” according to the suit, and was quoted saying: “No job and no one will stop me from talking about the Lord,” in response to requests from other dancers to stop pushing her beliefs on Rodriguez.
Quigley did not immediately return PvNew‘s request for comment.
The accusations against Lizzo also include calling attention to Davis’ weight gain after calling her out for not being committed to her role.
“In professional dance, a dancer’s weight gain is often seen as that dancer getting lazy or worse off as a performer. Lizzo’s and [choreographer Tanisha] Scott’s questions about Ms. Davis’s commitment to the tour were thinly veiled concerns about Ms. Davis’s weight gain, which Lizzo had previously called attention to after noticing it at the South by Southwest music festival,” the lawsuit states. “Although Lizzo and Ms. Scott never explicitly stated it, these questions accompanied by Lizzo’s statements made after the South by Southwest music festival gave Ms. Davis the impression that she needed to explain her weight gain and disclose intimate personal details about her life in order to keep her job.”
The complaint additionally states that Davis was fired in May for recording a meeting where Lizzo had given out notes to dancers about their performances.Williams states she was publicly fired due to budget cuts but the suit points out that no one else was fired that day. Before that,Williamsclaims she had spoken up at a meeting in which Lizzo accused the dancersofdrinking before performances.
Rodriguez reportedly complained to the manager about the decision to publicly fire Williams — an intimidation tactic that Lizzo “repeatedly” threatened to dancers during an April 27 meeting during which she told the team that she had “eyes and ears everywhere,” according to the complaint. Rodriguez allegedly resigned after feeling disrespected by the hostile environment created in the meeting, shortly after both Davis and Williams’ firings.
The suit also alleges mistreatment from BGBT toward the dancers who banded together to request a retainer for their work: “BGBT’s management team consisted entirely of white Europeans who often accused the Black members of the dance team of being lazy, unprofessional, and having bad attitudes,” the complaint reads.
The plaintiffs also claim that “only the dance cast – comprised of full-figured women of color” were the only ones spoken to in this type of degrading tone, “giving Plaintiffs the impression that these comments were charged with racial and fat-phobic animus.”
In a statement shared with PvNew, the dancers’ attorney Ron Zambrano, commented: “The stunning nature of how Lizzo and her management team treated their performers seems to go against everything Lizzo stands for publicly, while privately she weight-shames her dancers and demeans them in ways that are not only illegal but absolutely demoralizing.”
