Pop singer and Kamala Harris campaigner Lizzo is speaking out against her former employees who accused her of sexual misconduct and is insisting that none of the accusations are true.
This week, Lizzo’s name was dismissed from the lawsuit filed by her former stylist, Asha Daniels, with the court saying that Daniels had no standing to bring the suit.
Daniels’ lawsuit alleged that she was exposed to a “sexualized, racially charged, and illegal work environment” while working on Lizzo’s tour. Lizzo called Daniels’ accusations “meritless” and “defective.”
The Truth Hurts singer spoke about the lawsuits on the Baby, This is Keke Palmer podcast, saying, “I was literally living in my dream and then the tour ended and three ex-dancers just completely blindsided me with a lawsuit.” She also insisted that none of the accusations are true.
One of the accusations involves an outing at a strip club where some of her staff say they felt uncomfortable. Court filings claim Lizzo encouraged employees to “take turns touching the nude performers, catching dildos launched from the performers’ vaginas, and eating bananas protruding from the performers’ vaginas.” Employees also claimed they were forced to take part in these activities.
But on the podcast, Lizzo claims that no one was forced to do anything. “I don’t think that people who I employ should even be privy to how I am in a bar at this point,” she said. “I think that this experience taught me healthy boundaries. But to be real with you, it was such a fun night,” she said.
According to StereoGum, Lizzo’s accusers have countered that they felt pressured to attend the strip club event. One of the attorneys involved in the case released a statement saying that a “power dynamic” came into play.
There is an utter lack of awareness by Lizzo failing to see how these young women on her team who are just starting their careers would feel pressured to accept an invitation from their global celebrity boss who rarely hangs out with them. There is a power dynamic in the boss-employee context that Lizzo utterly fails to appreciate. We stand by the claims in the lawsuit and are prepared to prove everything in court with Lizzo on the stand under oath before a jury of her peers, not spouting nonsense and lies rationalizing a failure to take accountability on a podcast.
After the allegations came out, Lizzo struck back by immediately denying all the claims against her. But she also vaguely hinted that she was going to quit the entertainment industry.
Despite her denials, Lizzo’s record sales and streaming numbers collapsed in the wake of the accusations.
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