Things are going from bad-to-worse for Lizzo.
Now, hours after three of her former dancers came forward with allegations of sexual harassment, weight-shaming and more — her former creative director, Quinn Whitney Wilson, and dancer Courtney Hollinquest are also alleging they experienced similar treatment.
via Page Six:
“For clarification, I’m not apart of the lawsuit – but this was very much my experience in my time there,” Hollinquest wrote on her Instagram Story Tuesday. “Big shoutout to the dancers who had the courage to bring this to light.”
Soon after, Wilson shared a screenshot of Hollinquest’s statement to her own social media page, saying she was “echoing” everything that was already said.
“I haven’t been apart of that world for around three years, for a reason,” Wilson wrote. “I very much applaud the dancers courage to bring this to light. and I grieve parts of my own experience.”
“I’d appreciate space to understand my feelings,” she concluded.
To which, Hollinquest replied back to, “my sister forever only a few know what we’ve been through … love u Quinn.”
The two women’s comments came shortly after plaintiffs Arianna Davis, Crystal Williams and Noelle Rodriguez accused the Grammy winner — along with Big Grrrl Big Touring and dance team captain Shirlene Quigley — of creating a “sexually charged and uncomfortable” work environment in a lawsuit filed Tuesday.
In the lawsuit, the women allege that the singer once pressured Davis to inappropriately touch a nude performer while in Amsterdam in February 2023.
After their concert, the plaintiffs claim that Lizzo invited them for a night out on the town — specifically to the Red Light District, which is known for its sex theaters, sex shops and nude clubs.
Yet once they arrived, Lizzo allegedly “began inviting cast members to take turns touching the nude performers, catching dildos launched from the performers’ vaginas, and eating bananas protruding from the performers’ vaginas.”
“Lizzo then turned her attention to Ms. Davis and began pressuring Ms. Davis to touch the breasts of one of the nude women,” the suit alleges.
Although Davis allegedly told the singer three separate times that she did not want to touch the nude woman, she claims that Lizzo “pressured” and “goaded” her into complying.
Afterward, the “Good as Hell” singer allegedly “badgered a member of her security team to get on stage where she pulled down his pants and hit him with whips, yelling ‘Take it off!’”
“Plaintiffs were aghast with how little regard Lizzo showed for the bodily autonomy of her employees and those around her, especially in the presence of many people whom she employed,” per the suit.
Elsewhere in the suit, the three women allege that employees of the touring company “treated the Black members of the dance team differently than other members.”
“Only the dance cast – comprised of full-figured women of color – were ever spoken to in this manner, giving Plaintiffs the impression that these comments were charged with racial and fat-phobic animus,” the suit alleges.
Then in April 2023, Lizzo and choreographer Tanisha Scott allegedly accused Davis of not being committed to her role simply because she had gained weight, according to the complaint.
“In professional dance, a dancer’s weight gain is often seen as that dancer getting lazy or worse off as a performer,” the lawsuit read. “Lizzo’s and Ms. Scott’s questions about Ms. Davis’s commitment to the tour were thinly veiled concerns about Ms. Davis’s weight gain, which Lizzo had previously called attention to after noticing it at the South by Southwest music festival.”
According to the suit, Williams was fired in late April for “budget cuts,” just one week after she spoke up in a meeting after Lizzo allegedly accused the dancers of drinking before shows.
A few weeks later, Davis claims she was fired for recording a meeting without Lizzo’s knowledge.
“Lizzo became furious, hurling expletives at the group and stated that she was going to go around the room, person-by-person until someone told Lizzo who made the recording,” according to the suit.
In response to Lizzo “berating Ms. Davis,” Rodriquez decided to resign, which allegedly didn’t sit right with the singer.
“Lizzo aggressively approached Ms. Rodriquez, cracking her knuckles, balling her fists, and exclaiming, ‘You’re lucky. You’re so fucking lucky!’” the suit alleges. “Ms. Rodriguez feared that Lizzo intended to hit her and would have done so if one of the other dancers had not intervened.”
“As Lizzo left the room, she raised both her middle fingers and yelled, ‘Bye, bitch!’” the complaint reads.
The plaintiffs are suing for general and special damages, as well as punitive damages and attorneys’ fees. Yet the suit does not specify the dollar amount they are asking for.
“The stunning nature of how Lizzo and her management team treated their performers seems to go against everything Lizzo stands for publicly, while privately she weight-shames her dancers and demeans them in ways that are … absolutely demoralizing,” the plaintiffs’ attorney, Ron Zambrano, said in a statement.
This is getting nasty.
