Lizzo accused by former dancers of sexual harassment and weight-shaming
Former backup dancers for Lizzo have filed a lawsuit against the singer, accusing her of sexual harassment and of allegedly creating a hostile work environment.
They claim the singer pressured one of them into touching a nude performer at an Amsterdam club, as well as subjecting them to an “excruciating” audition after falsely accusing them of drinking on the job.
Lizzo is known for embracing body positivity. But the dancers claim she made comments about one performer putting on weight before firing her after she recorded a meeting because of an eye condition.
The lawsuit also accuses the captain of Lizzo’s dance team of attempting to convert the performers’ religious beliefs and deriding those who had premarital sex.
Shirlene Quigley is also accused of sharing lewd sexual fantasies and publicly discussing the virginity of one of the complainants.
The trio of dancers have also filed complaints of religious and racial harassment, false imprisonment, interference with prospective economic advantage and other allegations. The suit, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, was shared with Sky News’ US partner network NBC News.
Representatives for Lizzo, Ms Quigley and Lizzo’s production company did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The suit does not say if Lizzo knew about the allegations linked to Ms Quigley, but the plaintiffs believed the singer was aware of their complaints about her, according to their lawyer, Ron Zambrano.
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Two of the performers, Arianna Davis and Crystal Williams began performing with Lizzo after competing on her Amazon reality show “Watch Out for the Big Grrrls” in 2021 but were both later fired.
The third, Noelle Rodriguez, was hired in the same year after performing in the video “Rumours” but resigned earlier ths year.
The suit states that an at afterparty at a club in Amsterdam, Lizzo allegedly “began inviting cast members to touch the nude performers”.
The singer is then accused of starting a chant when Ms Davis declined, allegedly embarrassing the dancer until she agreed.
All three dancers were apparently subjected to a 12-hour rehearsal and audition after Lizzo accused the cast of drinking before performances.
Pic: AP
The litigation states Ms Davis was so fearful she would lose her job if she went to the bathroom, she soiled herself. She was allegedly given a see-through outfit with no underwear to finish the performance.
Ms Williams was fired shortly after the incident, she claims because she spoke up in a meeting about the alleged drinking incidents.
Ms Davis was sacked the next day after recording a meeting because of an eye condition. She claims she made the recording so she could have a copy of Lizzo’s performance notes. But after being castigated, was fired on the spot.
After the meeting, Ms Rodriguez threatened to resign. As she left, she accuses Lizzo of raising both middle fingers and yelling a slur.
The suit does not specify a dollar amount for damages that cover emotional distress including unpaid wages, loss of earnings and attorney’s fees.
Entertainment
‘People want you to stay in your lane’: Reese Witherspoon on her ‘deeply personal’ decision to write a novel
It is “pretty surreal”, Academy Award winner Reese Witherspoon admits, finding herself at the top of The New York Times bestsellers list.
When I meet the actress alongside her co-writer, best-selling author Harlan Coben, overnight the pair have learned that their thriller is now at number one.
He jokes: “I was texting her last night and saying you’ll now have to call yourself number one bestselling novelist, forget about Oscar winner!”
Reese Witherspoon and Harlan Coben told Katie Spencer about their novel Gone Before Goodbye
As one of the most successful authors in the world, Coben has sold over 80 million books to date, while for Witherspoon this is new ground.
Not content with running a hugely successful production company responsible for a string of hits, as well as one of the most successful book clubs in the world, she explains she felt compelled to give writing a try.
“People want you to stay in your lane… as a creative person I think it’s impossible to just choose one kind of life.
“Creativity is infinite and who I was as a creative person when I was 20 is very different from the person I am now at 49.”
Gone Before Goodbye, a thriller about a talented surgeon who finds herself caught up in a deadly conspiracy, is the result of Witherspoon daring to put her head above the parapet.
Witherspoon says she felt compelled to give writing a try
Coben admits he was “a little wary” at first.
“I don’t co-write novels but when she made the pitch and started talking about it, I was like ‘dang that’s good, we can do something with that’.”
While countless celebrities work with ghostwriters, Coben says: “I said to her from day one ‘it’s only going to be you and me in here… no third person in here, I don’t do that’. So every word you [read] comes from Reese and me.”
Coben has sold over 80 million books to date, while for Witherspoon this is new ground
Witherspoon explains: “He was like ‘if we’re going to do this, it’s going to have to be at a really high level because people going to expect a lot, so our bar was really high.”
“I said to her, in the beginning, novels are like a sausage,” Coben laughs. “You might like the final taste, but you don’t want to see how it was made and Reese got to see the full sausage getting made here.”
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When it came to writing, Coben says they “fell into a rhythm right away”, working together in three-hour stints, “back and forth with a yellow legal pad – what about this? What about that?”
Coben says they ‘fell into a rhythm right away’
Witherspoon says it “feels really deeply personal” to have their work now in print.
“Usually, as an actor, I walk into other people’s worlds and it’s already set up… but this was creating the whole world with Harlan and just from beginning to end feels very personal.”
While the story seems an obvious fit for being adapted to the screen, perhaps with a certain blonde actress in the leading role, Coben says that was never their intention.
“The biggest, biggest mistake novelists make when you write a book is to say ‘this would make a really great movie’. A book is a book, a movie is a movie, and we both focused on wanting this to be just a great reading experience.”
Given that their collaboration is already selling in big numbers, will the pair team up again to write a second?
Witherspoon says: “Let’s just see what people think of this one first.”
Kim Kardashian has revealed that she has been diagnosed with a brain aneurysm.
- Footage from the latest season of The Kardashians shows the reality TV star going for an imaging scan.
The 45-year-old appears to suggest her small aneurysm may have stemmed from stress.
Brain aneurysms are relatively common, with data suggesting they affect about one in every 50 people.
In many cases, patients may be unaware that they have one – as they tend to cause few symptoms when unruptured.
Brain aneurysms are common but often go undiagnosed. iStock file pic
Should an unruptured aneurysm grow to a larger size, it can cause headaches, balance problems and speech issues.
Those that burst are extremely dangerous and can prove fatal in some circumstances.
While aneurysms can emerge throughout the body, they are most typically found in the aorta, which carries blood out of the heart.
Research suggests brain aneurysms are most common in adults between the ages of 30 and 60 – with women disproportionately affected.
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Associate professor of neurology Dr Laura Stein told Sky’s US partner NBC News: ” The most well-described risk factors include a predisposition [family history of aneurysm], high blood pressure, cigarette smoking and inflammation.”
She went on to explain that most fatal ruptured aneurysms are in the brain, killing about one in three patients.
“When it’s a blood vessel that’s in the head and it bleeds, there’s a much higher risk of having a very bad problem just because the brain is enclosed in a fixed space,” Dr Stein added.
Low-risk aneurysms are monitored by doctors for growth or abnormalities, and there are a series of potential treatment options for those considered dangerous.
Elsewhere in The Kardashians clip, Kim admitted that her ex-husband Kanye West will be in her life “no matter what” because of the four kids they share together.
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