Lizzo’s dancers are speaking out about the singer’s off-stage behaviour even when two of them are saying “no one speaks out. They are scared.” It does not sound good for the singing flautist

Warning: The following post contains quotations and descriptions that some may find offensive, even pornographic. Reader discretion advised.

It is not surprising that Lizzo enjoys a rather exciting nightlife, but not this terribly so, as revealed by three of her back-up dancers who, according to the US media, have filed a bombshell lawsuit against the About Damned Time singer for various behaviours no boss must be guilty of. The big songstress, also behind the Amazon reality show, Watch Out for the Big Grrrls, is big in other ways too. Apparently, Lizzo—on her ID, her name reads Melissa Viviane Jefferson—is huge on going to nightspots to party, especially after her performances, regardless of the city she and her team are in. According to the papers filed in the Los Angeles court, at one such post-show get-togethers in Amsterdam, she pressured one of her dancers to put her hand on a nude performer at a club.

The plaintiffs alleged that in the “Venice of (North) Holland”, Lizzo took her team to the nightclub, Bananenbar (also known as Banana Bar), that, according to the establishment’s website, is “the most fun and surprising bar in the heart of Red Light District Amsterdam.” It is a two-storey hot-spot with different forms of entertainment (or, to be more specific, different stages of undress among the entertainers): The upper floor evokes what some visitors consider a more “dignified atmosphere” featuring pole dancers, while the lower floor is where, as its moniker suggests, “bananas play an important role in the entertainment and we are not talking cocktails here”. At the club, Lizzo supposedly “began inviting cast members to take turns touching the nude performers (according to some travel guides, for €50 [or about S$73.30], group grope is allowed), catching dildos launched from the performers‘ vaginas, and eating bananas protruding from the performers’ vaginas,” as described in the suit. It is no wonder that Time Out Amsterdam described Bananenbar as the place where “improbably dexterous female genitalia can be seen performing night after night.”

Subsequently, Lizzo purportedly cast her attention on one dancer—one of the plaintiffs Arianna Davis. The singer, as stated in the suit, “began pressuring Ms Davis to touch the breasts of one of the nude women.” Her employee declined. Lizzo then initiated a chant to prod her to succumb to the former’s call. Ms Davis turned down the request thrice, but the chorus “grew louder and more strident,” the suit stated, “demanding a visibly uncomfortable Ms Davis to engage with the performer.” She gave in and “briefly touched” the naked entertainer. The team cheered and laughed. Following this, it was alleged that Lizzo then singled one more from her security team and compelled the person (it is not known if the person is a he or she) to go on stage, after which she yelled, “take it off,” as the suit stated. “Plaintiffs were aghast with how little regard Lizzo showed for the bodily autonomy of her employees and those around her, especially in the presence of many people whom she employed.”

It is reported that Lizzo’s “after-parties were routine and non-mandatory”, but it is not clear why some members of her dance crew were obliged to join her at a strip club and why they were not able—or afraid—to just leave when things got too torrid to handle. Or why the pressures asserted on them were so unsurmountable. Was there abuse of power on the part of Lizzo? The world knows that the 118-(or so) kilogramme singer, who loves to be scantily clad on stage, is very open (and comfortable) about her weight and her body, and many of her fans have lauded her for that, but it is not known until now that she is so open about her sexuality and her carnal desires too, or that she expects her staff to be as open as she is and as willing to participate in what titillates her. It is assumed that Lizzo paid for the entire night out in Amsterdam. But should anyone be obliged to do anything embarrassing and distressing even if the boss is especially generous in a social setting? Or, prone to brazen or immodest fun?

Apparently visiting such a nightclub was not just for social/sexual gratification. There is more in the suit. A week after the Amsterdam affair, Lizzo invited her dancers to a club again, this time 430 kilometres away—in Paris. One night, following a show there, she said that where she wanted them to go was a place that, according to the suit, “they would be able to learn something or be inspired by the performance.” However, a significant detail was omitted: the club was, in fact, a “nude cabaret bar”. As reported, the performance that the members of her team eventually witnessed was “artful”, but the three plaintiffs were not taken in by the nakedness. They were “shocked that Lizzo would conceal the nature of the event from them, robbing them of the choice not to participate,” the suit elaborated. Was this indication of a pattern of behaviour that could have also manifested elsewhere, even in her homeland of USA?

On top of the above allegations, the dancers included in the suit that with Lizzo, her company Big Grrrl Big Touring, and the dance captain, Shirlene Quigley (who allegedly pressed her Christian standpoint upon the dancers and disparaged those who had premarital sex, yet, according to People report, “would simulate oral sex on a banana in front of the rest of the dance cast”), there was a hostile work environment (including a staggering “12-hour re-audition”), sexual harassment, religious and racial harassment, false imprisonment, interference with prospective economic advantage, and others. As more information about the suit emerges, American filmmaker Sophia Nahli Allison revealed on Twitter that she declined to direct Lizzo’s 2022 documentary because she was “treated with such disrespect”. Ariana Davis and another dancer behind the lawsuit, Crystal Williams (the other is Noelle Rodriguez), told the press that “no one speaks out. They are scared.” The singer has not publicly commented on the damning allegations. On stage or off stage, Black American female singers are making the news that not necessarily augment their careers. In one Instagram post that Lizzo shared on 19 July with a photo of her in undies (it is not known if they’re from her size-inclusive shapewear line Yitty), she asked in the comments, “What does Lizzo do after her shows?” Perhaps, now, we have a clearer—but not comely—picture.

Update (3 August 2023, 20:15): Lizzo has just posted a four-slide statement on Instagram. She wrote that “these past few days have been gut wrenchingly difficult and overwhelmingly disappointing.” And went on to speak at length about her “work ethics” and such. She did not directly address the charges levelled at her or the detailed description of what happened in the Amsterdam strip club, only stating, “these sensationalized stories are coming from former employees who have already publicly admitted that they were told their behaviour on tour was inappropriate and unprofessional.” She did not explain what behaviour was thought to be improper or lacked professionalism. Alluding to the treatment the plaintiffs received, she said, “Sometimes I have to make hard decisions but it’s never my intention to make anyone uncomfortable or like they aren’t valued as an important part of the team.” She concluded by saying that “I’m hurt but I will not let the good work I’ve done in the world be overshadowed by this.” There was glaringly no apology or expression of regret.

Screen shots of reels: lizzobeeating/Instagram