Lizzo is under fire yet again in a scathing new lawsuit accusing her of facilitating a toxic work environment.
The Sept. 20 filing comes less than two months after three dancers sued the Grammy winner over bombshell sexual harassment claims.
In the latest suit obtained by Pvnew, Asha Daniels, who was hired to work in Lizzo’s wardrobe department for the pop star’s 2023 tour, alleges she was verbally and physically abused by her manager, Amanda Nomura.
The wardrobe manager would allegedly tell staffers, including Daniels, that she would “kill a bitch” and “stab a bitch” if she was unable to find her medication, per the suit.
Nomura allegedly openly referred to black women as “dumb,” “useless” and “fat” — despite working for Lizzo, who is a black woman herself.
The manager also allegedly once “shoved a crew member” after they threatened to quit, “snatched food” out of a worker’s hand and reiterated that she would “kill a bitch” if anyone tried to come after her job.
Daniels also alleges in the suit that Nomura once rolled a clothing rack over her foot and injured her.
When the designer expressed she was in pain, her manager allegedly shoved her into the rack and told her to not make excuses, per the suit.
Daniels claims she lost her balance after being pushed and rolled her ankle as a result.
The designer claims Lizzo and staffers at the “about Damn Time” singer’s production company, Big Grrrl Big Touring, Inc. (BGBT), were aware of Nomura’s alleged pattern of behavior.
She alleges that, in one instance, Lizzo’s tour manager, Carlina Gugliotta, even suggested that she record Nomura “without her knowledge” in an attempt to catch her misconduct.
However, Daniels claims she did not take the recommendation, as she felt it was “both unethical and possibly unlawful.”
Lizzo’s spokesperson Stefan Friedman tells Pvnew in response to the suit, “As Lizzo receives a Humanitarian Award tonight from the Black Music Action Coalition for the incredible charitable work she has done to lift up all people, an ambulance-chasing lawyer tries to sully this honor by recruiting someone to file a bogus, absurd publicity-stunt lawsuit who, wait for it, never actually met or even spoke with Lizzo.”
He concludes, “We will pay this as much attention as it deserves. None.”
Aside from Daniels’ issues with Nomura, the designer also details some of the other inappropriate behavior that allegedly took place when she worked for Lizzo.
For instance, she notes that a backstage manager allegedly sent a photo “graphically depicting male genitalia” in a group chat she was in with other BGBT staffers.
Daniels also recalls a tour stop in Amsterdam where management allegedly openly discussed “hiring sex workers for lewd sex acts, attending sex shows and buying hard drugs.”
The designer claims in the suit that she felt “pressured to join such activities and found a way to secure one of her few days off to escape.”
Those specific claims are reminiscent of what Arianna Davis, Crystal Williams and Noelle Rodriguez alleged in their lawsuit in August.
The three women, who were the first Lizzo staffers to come forward, claimed they had been forced to participate in disturbing sex shows while on tour in order to get in the “Truth Hurt” singer’s good graces.
Some of the lewd behavior described in the first suit, including Lizzo allegedly 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.”
In Daniels’ suit, she also alleges that she was fired “without notice or reason” before her contract was set to expire.
She claims she suffered an allergic reaction on the day of her firing but was denied medical care.
“Due to the racist and sexualized work environment, and also the unreasonable physical
requirements of the Plaintiff, she suffered constant anxiety and panic attacks during the tour
from the racist and sexualized environments,” Daniels’ attorneys conclude in the suit.
“She continues to suffer ongoing anxiety and PTSD after the tour; and she suffers from migraines and migraine-induced eye twitch and ocular distortions, brain fog and fatigue.”
Daniels is seeking damages for sexual and racial harassment, failure to prevent a hostile work environment, disability discrimination, violation of labor codes and other claims.
The “Good as Hell” singer has not yet addressed Daniels’ allegations, but she previously defended herself against Davis, Williams and Rodriguez’s claims, calling them “outrageous.”
“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,” she wrote via Instagram in early August.
“There is nothing I take more seriously than the respect we deserve as women in the world.”
