Lizzo’s authorized woes proceed. Asha Daniels, who says she labored in Lizzo’s wardrobe division on tour this yr, alleges in a brand new lawsuit that she was generally refused breaks throughout 20-hour shifts, and that she heard racist and fatphobic feedback from members of Lizzo’s staff, TMZ experiences. She says Amanda Nomura, a member of Lizzo’s staff, referred to as Black ladies on the tour “dumb,” “ineffective,” and “fats,” in response to the lawsuit. The grievance follows a lawsuit that three different dancers filed initially of August, alleging they had been sexually harassed and weight-shamed. Pitchfork has emailed Daniels’ lawyer for additional particulars.
Within the lawsuit, Daniels claims Nomura rolled a clothes rack over her ankle, and that she was later reprimanded for sporting Crocs to ease the swelling. She says she raised the difficulty with Lizzo’s tour supervisor, Carlina Gugliotta, who suggested her to get video proof, however that she felt that might be unethical. She additionally says she wasn’t allowed to put on attractive clothes round Lizzo, claiming Lizzo didn’t need her boyfriend to be round different lovely ladies. Daniels says she was finally fired, resulting in ongoing anxiousness, post-traumatic stress dysfunction, migraines, ocular distortions, mind fog, and fatigue.
When reached by Pitchfork, a Lizzo spokesman, Stefan Friedman, acknowledged:
Within the earlier lawsuit, filed again in August, Lizzo, her Large Grrl Large Touring manufacturing firm, and her dance captain, Shirlene Quigley, had been named as defendants. (Asha Daniels is represented by Neama Rahmani, the lawyer who represents the unique plaintiffs.) It cites cases of racial discrimination and incapacity discrimination, together with an incident in Amsterdam the place Lizzo allegedly pressured a dancer into touching a nude performer’s breasts. On the identical event, Lizzo allegedly urged dancers to “catch dildos launched from the performers’ vaginas and eat bananas protruding from the performers’ vaginas.”
In response to the unique lawsuit, Lizzo mentioned the “false allegations” had been “as unbelievable as they sound and too outrageous to not be addressed.” She added, partly, “Generally I’ve to make onerous choices but it surely’s by no means my intention to make anybody really feel uncomfortable or like they aren’t valued as an essential a part of the staff. I’m not right here to be checked out as a sufferer, however I additionally know that I’m not the villain that individuals and the media have portrayed me to be be these previous couple of days.”
In response to that assertion, the unique three plaintiffs—Arianna Davis, Crystal Williams, and Noelle Rodriguez—reiterated and elaborated on their claims to CNN. “It took me till really leaving the camp that I found out that all the pieces that went on was unhealthy, as a result of I simply chalked it as much as, you realize, oh, Lizzo could be a diva, or that is simply the business, that is what we undergo,” Davis mentioned. She added that it was “disheartening” and “extremely irritating” for Lizzo to disclaim, and attempt to discredit, their claims.
In late August, it emerged that 14 Lizzo dancers had settled a separate lawsuit earlier this yr. The dancers, who had appeared within the 2022 documentary Love, Lizzo, raised a dispute involving cost for his or her look. A bunch together with a “Lizzo entity” and co-production firm Boardwalk Photos settled the declare in February for $109,551.
