Lizzo planning to sue former backup dancers for ‘malicious prosecution’: ‘The lawsuit is a sham’
Lizzo’s lawyer has said the star intends to sue her former backup dancers for “malicious prosecution” following their current lawsuit lodged against her.
On 1 August, Arianna Davis, Crystal Williams and Noelle Rodriguez, who previously performed as part of Lizzo’s Big Grrrls dance troupe, filed a lawsuit accusing the “Truth Hurts” singer of sexual harassment and fostering a hostile work environment.
In a statement shared with The Independent on Wednesday (23 August), Lizzo’s attorney Martin Singer said they “intend to sue for malicious prosecution after she prevails and these specious claims are dismissed”.
Malicious prosecution refers to the act of filing a lawsuit against someone even though the case has no merit.
“The lawsuit is a sham,” Singer added in the statement.
Singer included photos that purportedly show the plaintiffs Davis, Williams and Rodriguez with “the performers after the topless cabaret show at the Crazy Horse cabaret in Paris” on 5 March, 2023.
In their lawsuit, the plaintiffs claim that Lizzo did not tell them that the performers at Crazy Horse would be naked, thereby “robbing them of the choice not to participate”.
Elsewhere in the lawsuit, it is alleged that Lizzo pressured one of the plaintiffs into touching a nude performer at the Bananenbar strip club in Amsterdam.
The dancers claim that “Lizzo 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”.
“These images showing the three plaintiffs gleefully revelling backstage after the topless show were taken after their February 2023 visit to Bananenbar in Amsterdam that they complain about in their lawsuit,” Singer said.
In response to Singer’s statemement, Neama Rahmani, the lawyer representing the plaintiffs, told The Independent: “We’ve addressed all these instances where the plaintiffs appear to be happy alongside Lizzo during their time working with her.”
“Of course, they wanted to keep their jobs. They had bills to pay just like everyone else but they finally had enough of the abuse. We stand by every claim in the lawsuit and look forward to trial.
“We’ve been hearing from other former employees sharing similar stories, and as seen in the Los Angeles Times article today about how Lizzo used intimate footage of her dancers without their approval in the 2022 HBO Max Love Lizzo documentary, we’re seeing even more of a pattern of just how much Lizzo thinks of those who work for her. Clearly, not very much.”
Calling Singer’s threats “empty”, Rahmani said: “I’ve handled thousands of cases, including prosecuting drug cartels so we have no plans to back down. Let’s see if Singer can actually try a case in a courtroom instead of the media.”
