Lizzo Lawsuit: 'About Damn Time' To Break Down The Allegations

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Good morning and Happy Friday!

Feeling lucky? The Mega Millions jackpot has hit $1.25 billion, the fourth-largest prize in the game’s history. The drawing is tonight at 11pm ET.

Looking for some more guaranteed money? Go work for Taylor Swift. She has reportedly given about $55 million in total in bonuses to her dancers, sound technicians, riggers, and truck drivers.

Either way, have a great weekend! And if we’re not at work at the Mo News offices on Monday you’ll know why 😉 

Mosheh, Jill, & Courtney

🗞 WHAT IS GOING ON WITH LIZZO?

Singer Lizzo spoke out Thursday after sexual harassment and discrimination claims– including weight shaming– were leveled at her from three of her former dancers.

Lizzo, whose real name is Melissa Jefferson, pushed back on the allegations in an Instagram post, saying that she is “not here to be looked at as a victim, but I also know that I am not the villain that people in the media have portrayed me to be these last few days.

She added: “There is nothing I take more seriously than the respect we deserve as women in the world. I know what it feels like to be body shamed on a daily basis, and would absolutely never criticize or terminate an employee because of their weight.”

LET’S REWIND A BIT
Earlier this week, three dancers who previously performed with Lizzo— Arianna Davis, Crystal Williams, and Noelle Rodriguez— filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles against the singer, her production company, Big Grrrl Big Touring, and dance captain, Shirlene Quigley.

Two of the three dancers involved in the lawsuit were reportedly dismissed from Lizzo's operation. A third resigned.

THE ALLEGATIONS
The dancers claim that they were “exposed to an overtly sexual atmosphere that permeated their workplace.” Some of the specific claims:

• Lizzo pressured one of the dancers to touch a nude performer at a strip club in Amsterdam.

• She also allegedly subjected them to an “excruciating” audition after falsely accusing them of drinking on the job.

• Lizzo and her team allegedly “put the dancers through grueling rehearsals that led to one dancer soiling herself.”

• One of the dancers also says she faced “thinly-veiled” weight-shaming.

• Quigley allegedly pressured the dancers on religious matters.

RESPONSE TO LIZZO’S STATEMENT
The dancers’ attorney says “the dismissive comments and utter lack of empathy are quite telling about her character and only serve to minimize the trauma she has caused the plaintiffs and other employees who have now come forward sharing their own negative experiences.”

MORE ACCUSATIONS
This is somewhat of a she said / she said, except that since the lawsuit was filed, some other people who’ve worked with Lizzo have come forward to say this all jives with what they’ve experienced as well.

• One filmmaker, Sophia Nahli Allison, who was set to make a documentary about Lizzo back in 2019, said she walked away from the project after two weeks. Allison wrote on social media: “I was treated with such disrespect by her. I witnessed how arrogant, unkind, and cruel she is….. My spirit said to run as fast as you f***ing can, and I’m grateful I trusted my gut. I felt gaslit and deeply hurt, but I’ve healed.”
  

• One of Lizzo’s other former dancers, Courtney Hollinquest, wrote on her Instagram story that even though she’s not a part of the lawsuit, the claims echoed her personal experiences working with the singer.
  

• Lizzo’s former creative director Quinn Wilson posted to her own Instagram stories– “I haven’t been a part of that world for around three years, for a reason. … I grieve parts of my own experience.

⏳ SPEED READ

🚨NATION

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📱BUSINESS & TECHNOLOGY

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🎬 SPORTS & ENTERTAINMENT

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🎉 CHEERS TO THE FREAKIN WEEKEND

• 📺 WHAT WE’RE WATCHING: Jill: RHONY on Bravo; Mosheh: Selling Sunset marathon on Netflix
  

• 📚 WHAT WE’RE READING: Jill: The Swedes know the secret to happiness: You are not your stuff in The Washington Post; Mosheh:

  Immortal Life of Henrietta Lack by Rebecca Skloot

   

• 🌭WHAT WE’RE EATING: Jill: Uncle Jon’s BBQ Sauce; Mosheh: Banana Pancake Dippers