Lizzo‘s accusers are continuing to speak out!
As you may know by now, the 35-year-old singer has been under fire this week after three of her former dancers filed a lawsuit against her. Arianna Davis, Crystal Williams, and Noelle Rodriguez accused Lizzo of sexual harassment and alleged she fostered a hostile work environment, fat-shamed, discriminated, and more in the bombshell suit. And now, two of the women are further sharing their alleged experience working with the Truth Hurts songstress.
During an appearance on TMZ Live Wednesday, Arianna and Crystal alleged there was always this threat they would face repercussions, such as getting fired, if they didn’t follow through with everything Lizzo wanted to do. Crystal claimed to the outlet:
“Yeah, I think for both of us there was always this looming feeling of thinking that if you didn’t do something or if you didn’t adhere to certain suggestions or demands, your job could be in jeopardy. There have been specific instances, for example, whenever we were in contact with our agents and trying to negotiate receiving a retainer while we were working with the team. Things kind of started being more tense in the work environment, more hostile, so right off the bat we kind of already felt like the energy was shifting.”
Related: Beyoncé Changes Lizzo Concert Lyric Amid Shocking Lawsuit Reveal!
Things only worsened for them when negotiations for their retainers began:
“And after negotiations for retainers began, we got an email before one of the shows from someone from her management team saying that the way that we have been acting was unprofessional and the attitudes that we were exhibiting on the job was unacceptable and that it could be grounds for termination. And that’s just one specific instance that we went through in regards to working with the team.”
On the flip side, Arianna noted that the other performers “were favored” if they “have fun with her and go along with what she was doing,” adding:
“They were hired for more shows. They were invited on private jets and to do cool things and could hang out with her in tropical settings like Hawaii and stuff like that. There was no line between professionalism and personal. So we had it in our minds that if we weren’t down for anything we would then be ostracized later. It was this unspoken thing in the camp that if you weren’t super fun if you skipped out on all of the outings you wouldn’t be seen in good favor by Lizzo and that you would then not be considered one of the people that is like cool and down for anything and therefore not be booked for as many jobs.”
As we previously reported, they claim one of those positions the three women were put in was Lizzo allegedly coercing them to do a nude cabaret show. Another supposed instance saw Lizzo allegedly pressuring Arianna “ to touch the breasts of one of the nude” performers in Amsterdam. They alleged she further crossed the line by having her dancers “eating bananas protruding from the performers’ vagina.”
Arianna and Crystal were let go from their jobs. Crystal told the outlet she was also falsely accused of drinking before shows:
“There was a meeting that Lizzo had. It was a more – well, all of our meetings were pretty intense, but this one was a more intense meeting with her just emphasizing the fact that she wasn’t pleased with our performing and that we still weren’t dancing to her standard. This was after the intensity audition we went through after having hours of rehearsal. To which she then brought up the allegations of us drinking before shows. I raised my hand to speak, she allowed me to speak and in that moment I let her know that we never partook in those activities and we would never put ourselves, her or the show, or our jobs in jeopardy. Days later, one of her tour managers terminated me in a hotel lobby.”
As for Arianna? She alleged Lizzo body-shamed her for gaining weight, recalling:
“I had felt for a really long time that they were questioning my abilities due to weight gain. It was never explicitly said. It was very nuanced. It was very under the rug. I think language was used to keep from being canceled. Previously, she had said she was worried about me at South by Southwest. And when I was at South by Southwest that was the first time I showed up to a Lizzo event or gig noticeably having gained weight. There was nothing different about me. My performance skills were the same. My demeanor was the same. My energy was the same. The only thing that was different about me was my weight.”
And when she came forward with her eating disorder, the artist allegedly used it to justify her termination. She continued:
“In this meeting, she stated as well that dancers get fired for gaining weight. She kind of paused and looked at me and I still don’t know if she really meant to single me out in that moment. But when she looked at me and she said that I was kind of like so she’s really concerned about my weight. And then when we had that private when I was kind of cornered, they kind of wouldn’t let me get away with not telling them something personal – in a reason why something was wrong with me. So I ended up telling them that I struggled with anxiety and depression and that I’m in recovery from an eating disorder. As soon as I said eating disorder, they immediately were like ‘Oh.’ In their head, it was making sense as to why I was gaining weight because it had something to do with an eating disorder problem.”
Things are not looking good for Lizzo, especially as more people have come forward with their own disturbing allegations against her! You can see more from Arianna and Crystal (below):
Reactions to the latest, Perezcious readers? Let us know in the comments below.
[Image via MEGA/WENN, TMZ/YouTube]
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