LOS ANGELES — Lizzo has been sued by three former dancers who accuse the Grammy winner of sexual harassment and allege the singer and her production company created a hostile work environment.
The civil lawsuit filed Tuesday in Los Angeles County Superior Court claims Lizzo, a Houston native, pressured the dancers to engage with nude performers at a club in Amsterdam and shamed one of them for her weight gain before firing her.
Plaintiffs Arianna Davis, Crystal Williams and Noelle Rodriguez make numerous charges including sexual, religious and racial harassment, disability discrimination, assault and false imprisonment. Davis and Williams were contestants on Prime Video's reality show featuring women competing to join Lizzo's dance team.
The dancers said the verbal and emotional abuse they endured pushed them to go to court.
The legal complaint seeks unspecified damages and names Melissa Viviane Jefferson, known professionally as Lizzo, her production company Big Grrrl Big Touring, Inc., and Shirlene Quigley, captain of the performer’s dance team.
In an exclusive interview with KHOU 11's Grace White, the dancers laid out nine different claims, ranging from things like sexual and racial harassment to assault.
"I prematurely decided to resign because of how badly and how quickly things went down ... she basically was attempting to assault me and had to be held back," Rodriguez said.
Representatives for Lizzo didn't immediately respond to emails seeking comment on the lawsuit.
The court filing claims that after performing a concert in Amsterdam, Lizzo and her crew attended a sexually themed show at a club in the city's notorious Red Light District where “Lizzo began inviting cast members to take turns touching the nude performers.” During the show, Lizzo led a chant pressuring Davis to touch the breasts of one of the nude women performing at the club, the filing states.
“Finally, the chorus became overwhelming, and a mortified Ms. Davis acquiesced in an attempt to bring an end to the chants,” the complaint states. “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.”
Lizzo, who routinely champions body positivity, is also accused of calling out Davis for her weight gain after accusing the dancer of not being committed to her role. Davis was fired in May for recording a meeting during which Lizzo had given out notes to dancers about their performances, according to the complaint.
"(She said) dancers get fired for gaining weight so basically we should be grateful and she kind of looked at me," Davis said. "It definitely left me thinking that she’s got some concerns about my weight."
Quigley, who served as a judge on the singer's reality show “Lizzo's Watch Out for the Big Grrrls,” is accused in the lawsuit of pushing her Christian beliefs onto dancers. The court filing claims Quigley referred to Davis as a “non-believer" and told co-workers that “No job and no one will stop me from talking about the Lord.”
In addition, after discovering that Davis was a virgin, Quigley frequently 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," according to the lawsuit.
Lizzo hasn't commented publicly about the lawsuit.
"For future dancers that are coming up behind us, just to know that for things like this, even though they are the norm, it doesn’t make it right," Williams said.
Earlier this year, Lizzo won the Grammy for record of the year for her hit “About Damn Time." A global tour supporting her fourth studio album, 2022's “Special,” wrapped up last month.