Lizzo is breaking her silence over charges filed by three of her former dancers in 2023. The artist took to social media to celebrate allegations of fat-shaming having been dropped by a judge. Other claims of sexual assault remain.
A judge dismissed the fat-shaming claims against Lizzo
“There was no evidence that I fired them because they gained weight. Because it never happened. Now the truth is finally out,” she said in a statement, according to Rolling Stone. “They weren’t fired for gaining weight. They were fired for taking a private recording of me without my consent and sending it off to ex employees.”
Lizzo added that the allegations had “haunted” her since they came out and that it had been “devastating to suffer through this in silence.” She said that she has “only encouraged and supported people with bigger bodies and shared my platform with them.” The artist thanked her lawyers and noted that she was “grateful for this victory.”
“I am not settling,” she added. “I will be fighting every single claim until the truth is out.”
Ron Zambrano, a lawyer for the three former dancers who filed a lawsuit in 2023, said his clients do not plan on appealing the ruling, as most of the lawsuit remains intact. In fact, it still includes claims of sexual harassment against Lizzo.
“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,” Zambrano said. “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.”
Lizzo still faces allegations of sexual harassment
The 2023 lawsuit includes allegations of sexual harassment. Arianna Davis, Crystal Williams and Noelle Rodriguez said they were pressured to attend sex shows and interact with nude performers between 2021 and 2023.
In the lawsuit, Davis alleged that Lizzo pressured her to touch the breasts of a dancer at a nightclub in Amsterdam. She resisted but eventually agreed, “fearing it may harm her future on the team,” according to the BBC. Other incidents included an allegation that the dancers were asked to eat fruit from the naked bodies of sex club workers.
Lizzo’s team called the suit a “fabricated sob story” despite a Los Angeles judge ruling the case could move forward last year. The artist also argued that the outings were part of her creative process and should be protected by her First Amendment rights.
“I am very open with my sexuality and expressing myself but I cannot accept or allow people to use that openness to make me out to be something I am not,” Lizzo said after the claims were made public in 2023, per the BBC.