variety.com: Lizzo has requested a judge dismiss the lawsuit filed last month against her by three of her former dancers. The lawsuit filed by Arianna Davis, Crystal Williams and Noelle Rodriguez accused the Grammy winner of sexual harassment and creating a hostile work environment — accusations Lizzo’s legal team vehemently denies in a new legal document filed on the evening of Sept. 27.
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I have heard about these allegations made against Lizzo and it made me really upset. It sucks to hear that someone who preaches so much about body positivity harasses their dancers. She was looked up to by so many people, especially young impressionable fans. It also is disappointing to hear that Lizzo is not owning up to allegations and is denying them and trying to dismiss the lawsuit. I always think it is important to listen to the victims of a case, especially when it comes to situations like this where someone in power abuses their power. These allegations are very serious, and I feel very bad for the victims. It is inhumane that the dancers were forced to do a 12-hour rehearsal to the point of being forced to hold in their urine. It’s also absolutely wild to hear that the dancers were “coerced” to go to a nude bar. That seems so unprofessional and that definitely crosses many lines.
This article was very interesting, but hard to read. Lizzo has always been known for being a body positive activist. A lot of her music preaches that it is okay to be exactly who you are and to not change for anyone. A very large part of her brand has been focused on uplifting fellow women of color and plus size people, so this whole situation is even more awful and is very hypocritical. In cases like these, there is such a large power imbalance between the victims and the accused, it feels like victims often do not get the justice that they deserve. Additionally, because celebrities already have so much power and influence due to the media, there have been a myriad of instances where they maintain the fame and fortune they have after they have done illegal and immoral things. I that this happens way to often in the entertainment industry in particular.
I am so excited to see Moulin Rouge! The Musical tomorrow! I am only familiar with a couple of songs from the show, but I absolutely love the ones that I have heard. The upbeat and soulful music is unmatched and it just makes me want to dance anytime I hear it. There is also one particular song that is attached to many fond memories from high school and my lovely friends and dance teacher. This summer, I also went to Paris for a couple of days and I saw the original Moulin Rouge which was super cool! I liked that this article gave an overview of what is to come in the story without giving away too much. I appreciate that they talked about the history of Moulin Rouge, like the time period it was created in and the original movie because I think I can more thoroughly enjoy the show with this information.
It is so incredibly frustrating to know that change is not linear or guaranteed. I absolutely adored Lizzo: I loved her work and everything she said she stood for. So when I first heard about this lawsuit I was devastated. I am inclined to believe almost everything Arianna Davis, Crystal Williams and Noelle Rodriguez is saying is true: they gain nothing from creating this scandal. I know that other dancers and people who have worked closely with Lizzo have described similar negative experiences they have had. The sexual harassment the dancers experienced and being held captive in a rehearsalare by far the most intense parts, I am most shocked about how much weight shaming the dancers experienced. Lizzo’s entire brand is built around self confidence and embracing yourself, so for her to be shaming her dancers either shows how insincere Lizzo is or how deeply ingrained fat-phobia is in our culture.
I wouldn’t say I follow up with the news from the entertainment industry that much, but I would say that I do know that Lizzo is known for promoting body positivity and self love, which is also often a theme in her songs. Hearing her abuse her dancers is really a sad thing, because she now has broke her reputation as that supportive person for those that are insecure, and I really feel sad for her. Reading about people abusing their power is always hard, as you know that the employees/people of less power really couldn’t do anything much, as they probably would’ve lost their job. A lot of these things that were done are horrible to read, such as rehearsing 12 hours straight, and I think putting the dancers in these inhumane circumstances is really bad to read, and its really sad to hear they they couldn’t speak out about it.
I remember hearing about the accusations made against Lizzo and her main dancer/choreographer and was very surpised due to Lizzos outspoken stance on body positivity. It was horrible to hear how the dancers working for Lizzo were consistently shamed for their weight and were forced into explicit conversations with the choreographer during work hours. Now to see that Lizzo is pushing back against these claims just shows how little she cares about the people under her employment and doesn't care about people's safety and comfort at work. I will be surprised if she wins a lawsuit that could come from these allegations, and I am fairly confident in saying that she will lose work and workers for the rest of her career.
this article has been so hard to read, and the allegations against lizzo were absolutely jarring to hear about. lizzo has been known as a body positivity activist for who knows how long, and is known for standing up for prejudice against people of color, their size, sexuality, gender, etc… lizzo is basically known for believing in good and nothing but good. hearing that she took part in “sexual harassment and creating a hostile work environment” made my heart break as i’ve looked up to her for a very long time. dancers from Lizzo’s production company, Big Grrrl Big Touring, Inc., made an appearance to cheer her on while lizzo went on to accept her award at the Black Music Action Coalition. it confused me a lot to hear that some of her dancers went on to make those allegations against lizzo, but many other dancers she’s worked with have gone to support her.
It has become clear to me that plenty of people, especially those with immense wealth will let power get to their head. And even those who you don’t expect– those who preach positivity and love to their audience will surprise you. I use the term surprise very lightly, many scandals have popped up over the years it is hard for anyone to be a shock. The internet and social media has also made it so much easier for news like this to spread like wildfire. Lizzo’s story was and still is everywhere basically instantly and everyone was talking about it. I think this is a good thing because it gets the masses talking about something that will hopefully end in someone taking accountability. At the end of the day, either way this case goes Lizzo is probably going to be fine. People conveniently forget things like this because it makes them uncomfortable.
Lizzo has been getting more irrelevant in the past few years, her peak of popularity in 2019/2020 died down a bit, and she is known for her body positivity and talent in the music industry. The allegations that came out about her were pretty surprising to me. It also makes me think about the idea of the art vs. the artist. Do we separate the two? Do I? I guess I do sometimes, which is a bit hypocritical– yet I still will not listen to Michael Jackson because of his allegations, however, I may turn on Truth Hurts by Lizzo once in a while. Is that something to say about morals? It also makes me think about cancel culture in general, having an online prescence is all about having a facade, we dont really know anything about these uber pop stars, so why set expectations about what they are and are not capable of.
I have listened to Lizzo’s music a lot in the past but after all that has come out it is becoming increasingly hard to listen to anymore. Her music has always been about body positivity and not caring about what people think about the way you look, and yet behind closed doors she was doing all of this. When it was just a couple dancers accusations it was not exactly a good look but it was still plausible that it was just a couple stray dancers that left on bad terms and wanted to get back at her, but after multiple other parties chimed in either confirming these and other previous stories or adding their own new stories confirming this kind of behavior it changed from being more likely to be a money grab to being just yet another example of a large artist taking advantage of their popularity to avoid criticism.
Before this article I only heard about the accusations against Lizzo on social media platforms. I never really read too much into the details about what happened because the main concept on social media was that Lizzo was “canceled”. It is horrible to see that a person whose entire platform is about lifting other women up and making a safe and accepting community their main goal actually have all of that anger pent up and put it on others. It is like an internalized hate.Being someone whose entire platform is about body positivity and accepting everyone and then the people that work with you are accusing you have harassing them is just so unacceptable. I want to see what the proof is that the article is talking about because making up these accusations is not an easy thing to do especially about someone with such a big platform.
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