Pop star Lizzo has been fighting vicious allegations since four of her back-up dancers filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against her. Her former employees are alleging she fostered a hostile work environment by forcing her to do and visit explicit places. Now 18 of Lizzo’s employees including dancers, choreographers and musicians who have taken part in Lizzo’s touring company allege they never witnessed or experienced body-shaming, racism or other forms of harassment during their tenure with the pop star.
Page Six reports:
Lizzo’s legal team received signed declarations from 18 of the Grammy winner’s staffers who dispute the claims made in a scathing lawsuit filed by three of her ex-dancers, Page Six has learned.
According to court documents filed in the Los Angeles Superior Court on Friday and obtained by us exclusively, dancers, choreographers and musicians who have taken part in Lizzo’s touring company allege they never witnessed or experienced body-shaming, racism or other forms of harassment during their tenure with the pop star.
Dancer Arianna Davis claimed in the original suit that the “Juice” singer allegedly called out her weight gain even though she had disclosed to management that she battles binge eating, depression and anxiety.
However, dancer Melissa Locke claims in her statement, “Having worked with Lizzo for years, it is my personal belief that Lizzo would never body shame anyone, including Davis, or comment on her weight in a negative and hurtful manner.”
Jayla Sullivan, a dancer and contestant on “Lizzo’s Watch Out for the Big Grrrls,” adds in her declaration that she “never observed” Lizzo shaming Davis or co-plaintiff Crystal Williams, adding, “Lizzo inspired all of us to celebrate and love ourselves and our bodies as we are.”
Asia Banks — who describes herself as the “biggest dancer on tour” in the filing — says in her statement, “Lizzo assembled an entire group of plus-size dancers to showcase our talent and celebrate us.”
The new declarations also dispute the plaintiffs’ recollections about a team outing at Bananenbar, an adult entertainment club in Amsterdam in which the ex-dancers claimed they were forced to participate in inappropriate sexual acts.
Per the original suit, Lizzo allegedly pressured dancers to take turns “touching nude performers, [catch] dildos launched from the performers’ vaginas and [eat] bananas protruding from the performers’ vag***s.”
However, drummer Michel’le Baptiste states in her declaration that she saw Davis at the bar during the night in question and the dancer allegedly “did not look uncomfortable.”
“She was having a great time, just like we all were,” the musician further claims.
Dancer Melissa Locke states in her declaration that she spoke with Davis and her co-plaintiff Noelle Rodriguez the morning after Bananenbar.
“They never said they felt uncomfortable or pressured,” she alleges in her statement. “They were very enthusiastic about what a great night out they had.
“I remember telling them, ‘That sounds like so much fun, I wish you had woken me up to go with you.’ They agreed that it was a fun night and told me that they went out in the Red Light District after. They did not complain or sound upset in any way.”
Several Lizzo staffers also disputed the claim that they were “pressured” to attend the salacious outings.
Source link
