Admired pop-singer Lizzo, who is known for emphasizing body positivity in both her brand and her singing, has been sued by her former dancers along with her production company and dance captain Shirlene Quigley for sexual harassment as well as creating a hostile workplace. Dancers Arianna Davis, Crystal Williams and Noelle Rodriguez were the girls who had made the claims and have gone into a legal battle with Lizzo. These claims are especially problematic as Lizzo has always tried to spread ideas of body positivity and being confident with who you are not matter what you look like. 

The dancers claim that Lizzo and her team were never blatantly fatphobic towards them, but would subtly comment on any weight the girls had gained. The sexual harassment claim refers to a time Lizzo and her dancers were at a strip club, and she had pressured dancer Davis to touch one of the performer’s breast. In reference to the hostile work environment, the girls claimed that Lizzo would accuse them of drinking before performances, made the girls re-audition for their spots on the team that they already had, and go through 12-hour rehearsals with no bathroom breaks. Williams had told Lizzo they weren’t drinking, and was soon fired after due to alleged budget cuts. Davis had also recorded a meeting where Lizzo continuously referenced Williams being fired due to an eye condition she has that can make her become disoriented. When Lizzo found out about this, she had yelled at them at another emergency meeting and Davis was fired that day. Rodriguez resigned soon after. 

For fans of Lizzo, this has been very hard especially because the star had promoted body positivity throughout her entire career.

“It’s super disappointing to think that Lizzo could do such a thing,” said fan of Lizzo, Amber Multon. “I really admired her because she was such a seemingly sweet celebrity and so open about being body positive and supporting all body types.” 

A big question being asked by many former fans and just by the general public is if all the positivity around being plus size was just a lie in order to gain more popularity. 

“I don’t think it’s a lie, she isn’t superficial with her body positivity. She’s really open about her experience of being plus-size, she even speaks about the privilege that skinny people get when compared to a plus sized person,” Multon said. “She constantly posts online about being body positive and her eating habits. She’s a known vegan, she shares her working out, and recipes she eats. She’s not doing it all for show and is very proud of who she is and her body.”.

Lizzo replied to the case and allegations with a post on instagram stating that her morals and character have been criticized and denying the claims. It’s also been rumored that the dancers were lying about these claims, but these have not been proven yet. 

With Lizzo now being represented in a bad light, there has been a lot of fatphobia that has risen from the public as well. Many people claim that they had never liked Lizzo because of her body and weight, or have made jokes about her weight and the case.

 “People especially on social media immediately took it as a chance to hate on Lizzo simply just for her body,” said Multon. “It’s just ironic since even Lizzo’s dancers who are bringing up these claims are plus-size but people choose to ignore that.”. 

Not many celebrities have come out to her defense, except for one. During one of the extremely famous pop-star Beyoncé’s concerts in Boston, she yelled “I love you, Lizzo!” after excluding her name in a song at a previous concert. The support of other famous singers or popular figures may help Lizzo’s case in proving the dancers were lying, but until the actual lawsuit is figured out it is hard to tell. 

Lizzo has been under a lot of fire and it’s hard to tell whether her business and popularity could bounce back after this, whether her and her team win the case or not.

“I think that it will all depend on whether or not the claims of the dancers are true or not,” said Multon. “If they’re proven true I’m sure she can recover but it won’t be as easy. If the claims are found to be false it will be easier for her to recover and because of the fatphobic people online towards her, she can turn it into a learning moment and teach people to not be fatphobic for the ‘fun’ of it.”.