Lizzo celebrates legal victory, fat-shaming charges dismissed

Pop star Lizzo is celebrating a legal victory after a judge dismissed fat-shaming claims by three of her former dancers in a 2023 lawsuit.

The singer, whose hits include body-healthy anthems like “Good As Hell” and “Juice,” posted a video statement on Instagram and TikTok to mark the development.

“There is no evidence that I fired them because they gained weight,” Lizzo said. “They were fired for taking private recordings of me and sending them to former employees without my consent.”

While those specific charges have been dropped, the case against Lizzo and her production company will continue, accusing three dancers of sexual harassment.

Lizzo’s team called the lawsuit a “fabricated sob story,” but a Los Angeles judge ruled last year that the case could move forward.

Arianna Davis, Crystal Williams and Noelle Rodriguez said they were forced to participate in sex shows and interact with nude performers between 2021 and 2023.

The allegations against Lizzo, whose real name is Melissa Vivian Jefferson, include that she “forced Ms. Davis to touch the breasts of a dancer” at an Amsterdam nightclub.

Court documents show that although Ms Davis initially refused, she eventually acquiesced because of “concerns that failure to do so might harm her future with the team”.

Other incidents cited in the case include claims dancers were asked to eat fruit off the naked bodies of sex club workers.

This summer, Lizzo’s attorneys appealed the decision to let the charges go to trial, arguing that the group outing was part of the singer’s creative process and therefore should be protected by First Amendment free speech protections.

In response, a lawyer for the dancers dismissed the claim, saying it was not enough to say that the sex act inspired Lizzo’s own performance.

“By this standard,” writes Ari Stiller, “Johnny Cash could shoot ‘a man in Reno just to watch him die’ and claim protection if he hoped it would inspire his performance.”

Stiller urged the court to allow the lawsuit to proceed to trial.

Lizzo’s attorney, Melissa Glass, claimed Stiller’s brief “refutes the false allegations in their (original) complaint.”

“Just like two years ago, the dancers were unable to find a single person to substantiate their baseless claims,” ​​Glass said in a statement to Billboard magazine.

“In contrast, 18 witnesses who worked with Lizzo on the special trip submitted sworn testimony refuting the claims of Davis, Williams and Rodriguez. We look forward to the Court of Appeal’s decision on this matter.”

Lizzo has vehemently denied the accusations against her.

“I am very open about my sexuality and expressing myself, but I cannot accept or allow people to use that openness to make me into someone I am not,” she said in 2023 when the claims first emerged.

In her latest statement, the singer added that accusations of fat-shaming have been “haunting” her for the past two years, adding that “bearing it all in silence has been devastating.”

She also emphasized that she is “just encouraging and supporting people who are larger and sharing my platform with them.”

Lizzo thanked her attorney and said she planned to continue fighting the lawsuit.

“I’m not settling,” she said. “I will fight every accusation until the truth comes out.