Lizzo reveals legal 'victory' after former dancers sued her for being 'fired because they gained weight'
Lizzo has given fans an update on the ongoing legal battles she's facing relating to three former dancers.
In 2023, it was revealed that the 'About Damn Time' hitmaker was being sued by three of her former dancers over accusations of weight shaming and sexual harassment.
Following the filing, Lizzo released a statement and branded the allegations as false.
"These last few days have been gut-wrenchingly difficult and overwhelmingly disappointing," she said at the time. "My work ethic, morals and respectfulness have been questioned. My character has been criticized. Usually, I choose not to respond to false allegations but these are as unbelievable as they sound and too outrageous to not be addressed."
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The music star continued: "These sensationalized stories are coming from former employees who have already publicly admitted that they were told their behavior on tour was inappropriate and unprofessional."
The three dancers who filed the suit are Arianna Davis, Noelle Rodriguez, and Crystal Williams.
Lizzo and her legal team have been fighting the suit ever since, and now the 37-year-old has issued an update.
Speaking to her 11.5 million Instagram followers today (December 15), Lizzo shared: "The fat shaming allegations against me have been officially dropped by my accusers. They conceded that it had no merit in court.
"There was no evidence that I fired them because they gained weight. Because it never happened. Now the truth is finally out."
Lizzo continued to clarify that their weight had nothing to do with their firing but that they were let go for 'taking a private video of [her] without [her] consent and sending it off to ex-employees'.
"I have never fired an employee for losing weight," she went on. "I have only encouraged and supported people with bigger bodies and shared my platform with them."
Lizzo added that the claims have 'haunted' her ever since they were made and said it's been 'devastating to suffer in silence', but her lawyers advised her to keep quiet.
She concluded her statement: "I am still in a legal battle. I am not settling. I will be fighting every single claim until the truth is out."
Allegedly, it was the secret recordings that undermined Lizzo's former dancers' case, says Complex. The Superior Court judge in the case found that Davis' firing was justified because of this, rather than it being weight-related.
The other allegations made by the dancers include that they were made to interact with naked sex performers at Bananenbar in Amsterdam.
Speaking to TMZ, the dancers' attorney, Ronald Zambrano, said: "We are maintaining that Judge Epstein was correct in his ruling denying Lizzo's special motion to strike the vast majority of claims they attacked, including false imprisonment and harassment.
"Of the couple of claims Judge Epstein did dismiss, the plaintiffs have taken a considered approach to leave that be. One would hope to see the same level of intellectual honesty and neutral assessment from the defendants, but that hasn’t been the case thus far, and it’s disappointing."
Niamh Shackleton