On Tuesday, 1 August, three dancers who were previously part of Lizzo's tour filed a lawsuit accusing the singer of sexual harassment and creating a toxic work environment. It also names her production company and her dance captain, Shirlene Quigley.
Details of the situation were provided to NBC News, which reports that, according to the three plaintiffs — Noelle Rodriguez, Crystal Williams, and Brianna Davis (the latter two of whom competed on the Amazon series Watch Out For the Big Grrrls) — the singer pressured a “visibly uncomfortable” Brianna Davis to physically touch nude performers at a club in Amsterdam, where the tour was celebrating at an after-party.
There are also claims of weight and race-motivated harassment, stemming from an incident in which dancers were allegedly reprimanded for asking for downtime pay. “Only the dance cast—comprised of full-figured women of colour—were ever spoken to in this manner,” the suit states. There are also descriptions of veiled comments reportedly meant to weight-shame dancers.
Shirlene Quigley is specifically accused of preaching her Christian beliefs to co-workers who made it clear that they weren't interested in hearing about them, going so far as to “pressure” Noelle Rodriguez and make public statements about Brianna Davis's virginity.
Crystal Williams claims that she was fired because she disagreed with Lizzo over whether she and other dancers were drinking on the job, and that the day before she was let go, all the dancers were subjected to an “excruciating” 12-hour rehearsal/audition during which Brianna Davis, afraid to leave the dance space to use the restroom, soiled herself.
There is also a, frankly, very messy allegation about what happened when Brianna Davis, who claims to suffer from “an eye condition that sometimes left her disoriented in stressful situations,” recorded a team meeting. Brianna freely admitted to making the recording, saying she wanted to keep a copy of the artist's performance notes, and said she'd deleted it but was “berated” and then fired. Lizzo's security team allegedly kept Brianna against her will in the meeting room while they searched her phone, which is why the suit includes a claim of “false imprisonment.”
As of this writing, none of the defendants have addressed the situation. Though Shirlene did take to Instagram on 2 August to post a video extolling her Christian beliefs: “Glory to God. I just want to remind you that he is love. He is truth, he is the light. he is the first and the last,” she says to camera. Adding: “All things work together for those that are called together according to his purpose.”
Instagram content
Meanwhile, fans who attended Beyoncé's gig in Boston, Massachusetts as part of her ongoing Renaissance World Tour — and those who've subsequently viewed footage from the event — have speculated whether the omission of Lizzo's name from her rendition of Break My Soul is linked to the allegations. Usually, the song includes the names of female artists including Lizzo, Kelly Rowland, Lauryn Hill and Solange, Bey's sister. However on this occasion, the 41-year-old failed to sing out the names of any of the woman she usually name-drops except Erykah Badu, singing: “Badu/Badu/Badu/Badu.”
X content
It's since been speculated that the removal of Lizzo's name and the others was in fact down to recent comments made by Erykah Badu about her influence on Beyoncé's style.
This article originally appeared on Glamour (US).
