Lizzo on Facing Sexual Harassment Lawsuit: “The Wind Was Knocked Out of Me by People I Cared About”
Lizzo is speaking out about her ongoing lawsuit.
Last August, some of her tour dancers filed a lawsuit against the artist, alleging they were sexually harassed and victims of a hostile workplace environment. Lizzo has denied any allegations of wrongdoing. The suit is now on hold while Lizzo appeals a ruling that allowed the case to move forward, Billboard reported.
More from The Hollywood Reporter
However, the artist joined Keke Palmer on her podcast Baby, This is Keke Palmer, where she discussed feeing “blindsided” by the allegations.
The singer explained how 2023 was a monumental year for her given all the success including winning record of the year at the Grammys and traveled on her first arena tour. But things took a turn once these allegations happened.
“I was literally living in my dream, and then the tour ended, and three ex-dancers just completely, like, blindsided me with a lawsuit,” she said. “I was very deeply hurt because these were three ex-dancers, so they weren’t on the tour. They didn’t, like, finish the tour out with us. But even regardless of that, these were people that I gave opportunities to. These were people that — I liked them and appreciated them as dancers, respected them as dancers. So I was like, what?”
She added, “But then I heard all the other things like sexual harassment, and I was like, they’re trying well, I don’t know what they’re trying to do, but these are the types of things that the media can turn into something that it’s not.”
Shortly after the suit was filed, Lizzo defended herself on Instagram at the time writing, “I am not here to be looked at as a victim, but I also know that I am not the villain that people and the media have portrayed me to be these last few days. There is nothing I take more seriously than the respect we deserve as women in the world. These sensationalized stories are coming from former employees who have already publicly admitted that they were told their behavior on tour was inappropriate and unprofessional.”
Lizzo shared that she has been dismissed from the case allowing her to speak about the allegations and the lawsuit. “We’re continuing to fight the other claims until they’re all dismissed — not dropped, but dismissed,” she said. “It is a big victory.”
“Let’s be clear, I did nothing wrong,” Lizzo added. “I do have now this learned experience that is preparing me for the boss that I’m becoming. This experience hasn’t stopped me from being me.”
Following the lawsuit, speculation about Lizzo’s character came into focus. Lizzo refuted criticism that her being outspoken to champion women and fire back at body shamers is “performative” and that she wasn’t going to embrace any sort of “villain” role that people could portray her as following the allegations. “I wasn’t even playing the role of the hero so why would I start playing the role of the villain?”
Priding herself as someone who normally takes accountability, Lizzo said that for this she “didn’t do anything wrong… So i’m fighting. I’ve been fighting behind the scenes too,” she said. “My lawyer’s been doing the talking because I also don’t want to perpetuate the negative talk that’s surrounding real victims in the world. I still believe women. I still believe victims.”
She also argued, “People should not be able to just say anything about somebody and put it in the media and ask for money. You shouldn’t be able to do those things.”
Lizzo said that the sexual harassment claim is the one that “upset” her “the most.” In the lawsuit, one of her former dancers alleged they were pressured due to fear of losing their jobs to touch nude dancers while attending a live sex show in Amsterdam with Lizzo. However, Lizzo fires back at those claims telling Palmer, “I went on my own because I was in Amsterdam … I didn’t take [the plaintiffs] anywhere. They came to the club I was at, and it was no mandatory invitation, and I didn’t even know that those two particular dancers were coming. Mind you, only two of them came, even though all three of them said they did, it was only two.”
Lizzo noted that the “fun environment” is a “consensual” experience. She also noted that the bar has been open since 1945. “If there were doing things non-consensually, they would have been sued.”
“I don’t think that people who I employ should even be privy to how I am in a bar at this point,” Lizzo said in response. “I think that this experience taught me healthy boundaries, but to be real with you, it was such a fun night… I think there’s a time where there’s a difference between having boundaries and professional boundaries … It’s nuanced. It’s a new conversation in this industry.”
At one point in the interview, Lizzo grew emotional and fought back tears as she described that period of her life as being “very dark because of the feeling of betrayal… The wind was knocked out of me by people that I cared about.”
“To feel betrayed on that level was like deeply earth shattering,” she said, also noting that the media “beefed it up” with “salacious headlines to sell clicks.”
“I had to learn a little bit of my innocence is gone. And a little bit of my free spirit is gone for sure. Because that kind of mass betrayal, it’s hard for any person to take,” Lizzo said.
Going forward, Lizzo said, “The boundaries that I have now are as wide as the ocean.” And though she said she’s still going to have a “family-style feel” when it comes to professional relationships, there are “things that I know now that will keep me safe and them safe. Like being in bars. Even when I didn’t invite you to the bar if you show up … What to do in those situations as a boss, which is important.”
Best of The Hollywood Reporter
Sign up for THR's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Solve the daily Crossword
