HOUSTON — On Thursday, Houston superstar Lizzo was named in a new lawsuit alleging sexual and racial harassment by a former wardrobe designer.
It follows a separate lawsuit filed in August by three former dancers alleging sexual harassment and a hostile work environment.
The new lawsuit was filed Thursday in Los Angeles by Asha Daniels, an assistant wardrobe manager on Lizzo’s 2023 tour, against Lizzo, under her real name of Melissa Jefferson, along with her production company, wardrobe manager and tour manager.
The lawsuit alleges that Daniels’ supervisor made “fatphobic” and racist comments, including offensive impressions of Black women. Daniels also says she experienced sexual harassment, including receiving explicit photos in a group text with production employees, as well as hearing managers discuss attending sex shows.
The suit claims that Daniels complained about these allegations and others, like a lack of privacy for dancers changing clothes, went nowhere, and she was later illegally fired in retaliation.
Daniels’ lawyers accuse Lizzo of allowing the alleged conduct to happen under her watch.
“Our clients are women of color, some of them are plus-size women of color,” Neama Rahmani, one of Daniels’ lawyers, said during an interview Thursday with KHOU. “Lizzo was their hero. This was their one opportunity to get into Hollywood. There’s not many opportunities for women like them, unfortunately. So, they too thought that Lizzo represented these values, but the Lizzo that you see when the cameras are rolling on a reality show or in public is very different than the Lizzo as an employer.”
Rahmani told KHOU his team decided to file the lawsuit Thursday because it fell on the same day Lizzo was set to be honored for her humanitarian work giving money to organizations, including Planned Parenthood, Black Girls Smile, and the University of Houston.
Rahmani called the award “a public relations sham."
In a statement to KHOU late Thursday afternoon, Lizzo spokesperson Stefan Friedman called the lawsuit "bogus."
“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.
We will pay this as much attention as it deserves. None.”
Daniels has done some interviews but declined to do any more Thursday.
Rahmani told KHOU he and his client are hoping for a jury trial.