Lizzo: More complaints about singer being investigated in wake of lawsuit
More complaints into Lizzo’s behaviour are being investigated by lawyers representing her accusers.
Crystal Williams and Noelle Rodriguez, along with a third dancer, Arianna Davis, have filed a lawsuit against the Grammy-winning musician and her production company, Big Grrrl Big Touring (BGBT), which also includes claims of religious harassment, disability discrimination, assault, and false imprisonment.
Speaking to NBC News, Ron Zambrano said his firm is now looking at fresh allegations from six people who say they toured with Lizzo, as well as others who worked on her TV show Lizzo’s Watch Out For The Big Grrrls.
Mr Zambrano said the allegations are of a “sexually charged environment”, and failure to pay staff, adding some of the claims are potentially actionable.
After news of the lawsuit emerged, Lizzo issued a statement on social media saying she was “not the villain”. The singer, who is known for championing body positivity, described the allegations as “unbelievable” and “too outrageous to not be addressed”.
In response, Ms Williams told Sky News: “Her statement is just confirming the pattern of every time somebody speaks up or advocates for themselves, like we’re doing now, we get victim-blamed, we get gaslighted. And she likes to point the finger instead of addressing the issues that are being brought up.”
This is something that happens on an “everyday basis” when working with stars, she said. “Sadly, we’ve already experienced not only dancers that have worked with her directly, but dancers that are just in the entertainment industry in general, they’ve already come out and they’ve shared their stories.
“They feel brave enough to share their experiences… before people were just silent about it, they didn’t feel comfortable enough. They didn’t feel protected enough to call these artists out, to call these management teams out, and let them know, ‘hey, what you’re doing is wrong’.”
Lizzo is a four-time Grammy winner who was named Time’s entertainer of the year in 2019. She is best known for hits including Truth Hurts, Juice, Good As Hell and About Damn Time.
Ms Davis and Ms Williams began dancing with the star after competing on her Amazon reality show Watch Out For The Big Grrrls in 2021, but were both later fired. Ms Rodriguez was hired in the same year after performing in the video for the song Rumours, but resigned earlier this year over the “appalling behaviour”.
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Lizzo accused of ‘gaslighting’
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Ms Rodriguez compared working for Lizzo to dancing for the likes of Beyoncé and Lady Gaga, saying elsewhere this week: “I mean, working with Beyoncé, you have to be on your P’s and Q’s. Same thing with someone like Janet [Jackson] or Lady Gaga.
“But what they did differently and what Lizzo’s not understanding as a businesswoman, is that you can still have this expectation, this level of talent and energy that you want around you, but still show appreciation to your workers.
“There’s a really good balance of that, and I just don’t understand, the more you show that appreciation to your workers and that you care for them and everything that they’re doing for you as they are for you as well, the harder they want to work for you.
“I think that’s the biggest difference that she doesn’t quite understand yet.”
In her statement responding to the women’s lawsuit, Lizzo said: “Usually I choose not to respond to false allegations, but these are as unbelievable as they sound and too outrageous to not be addressed.”
She added: “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.”
Sky News has contacted Lizzo’s representatives for comment.
Federal prosecutors in New York are urging a judge to sentence Sean “Diddy” Combs to more than 11 years in prison.
Following the hip-hop mogul’s conviction on prostitution-related charges, they also want him to be fined $500,000 (£372,000), according to court filings.
Last week, defence lawyers urged a 14-month sentence. Due to time served, that would enable him to walk free almost immediately – following his arrest in September last year.
But he could, in theory, face up to 20 years in jail after being found guilty of two counts of transportation for engagement in prostitution. Each charge carries a maximum sentence of 10 years.
Judge Arun Subramanian, a US district judge, is due to sentence Combs in Manhattan on Friday.
Combs reacts after the verdicts are read in July
During his trial, prosecutors said Combs coerced two of his former girlfriends to take part in what were described as “freak offs”.
He was found guilty of transporting male prostitutes across state lines to take part in those events.
Both women testified that Combs physically attacked them and threatened to cut off financial support if they refused to take part.
However, while jurors believed Combs broke the law over using sex workers, they did not find the sexual encounters involving the women were non-consensual, which is what prosecutors had argued.
Combs was cleared of the more serious charges of sex-trafficking and racketeering conspiracy.
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In a written legal submission, his defence team has detailed “inhumane” conditions at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, New York.
They said the food sometimes contains maggots, that the rapper is routinely subjected to violence, and that he has “not breathed fresh air in nearly 13 months”.
They also said his “career and reputation have been destroyed”.
His legal team said Combs had been “adequately punished” already, was sober “for the first time in 25 years”, and had helped other inmates by creating an educational programme on business management and entrepreneurship.
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Harry Potter author JK Rowling hits out at Emma Watson in fresh clash over transgender issues
JK Rowling has accused Emma Watson of being “ignorant of how ignorant she is” amid their ongoing disagreement about transgender issues.
The Harry Potter films’ three central stars – Watson, Daniel Radcliffe and Rupert Grint – have publicly backed the rights of transgender people in recent years, often distancing themselves from the author when asked about her in interviews.
Rowling, 60, has previously been accused of transphobia, which she denies.
Watson, 35, discussed her relationship with the writer on a podcast last week, telling host Jay Shetty: “I think it’s my deepest wish that I hope people who don’t agree with my opinion will love me, and I hope I can keep loving people who I don’t necessarily share the same opinion with.”
Rowling has now shared a more than 600-word post on X in response to Watson, in which she states: “Like other people who’ve never experienced adult life uncushioned by wealth and fame, Emma has so little experience of real life she’s ignorant of how ignorant she is.”
JK Rowling in 2019. Pic: AP
The author went on to say the Hermione Granger actress is never going to need a homeless shelter or be placed on a mixed-sex public hospital ward.
The multimillionaire author said that “I lived in poverty while writing the book that made Emma famous” and therefore “understand from my own life experience what the trashing of women’s rights in which Emma has so enthusiastically participated means to women and girls without her privileges”.
Rowling added that while she has found it “hard to shake off a certain protectiveness” towards the Harry Potter stars, who she has known since they were children, there was a “turning point” in her relationship with Watson in 2022.
She said this happened when Watson gave a Bafta speech saying “I’m here for all the witches”, which some saw as a criticism of the author’s beliefs on gender.
Emma Watson arrives at the Baftas in March 2022. Pic: Reuters
The actress then asked someone to deliver her a handwritten note saying “I’m so sorry for what you’re going through”, the author claimed on X.
This came at a time “when the death, rape and torture threats against me were at their peak” and “Emma had just publicly poured more petrol on the flames”, Rowling said.
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Watson has often publicly disagreed with Rowling.
In 2020, she was one of several Harry Potter stars who showed their support for the trans community when the author shared a series of divisive posts online.
“I want my trans followers to know that I and so many other people around the world see you, respect you and love you for who you are,” the actress wrote at the time.
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