According to documents obtained by People Magazine, Tiffany Wells, the Postmates driver, is suing for libel, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and invasion of privacy.
What We Know:
- The lawsuit recounts the September incident when the “Truth Hurts” singer ordered dinner from the Postmates app and didn’t receive her meal. Shortly after that incident happened Lizzo wrote in a since-deleted tweet, “Hey @Postmates this girl Tiffany W. stole my food. She lucky I don’t fight no more.” The tweet included a screenshot close up photo of the driver and her name.
- According to Postmates’ policies, post-delivery the driver can leave after five minutes if they have trouble reaching a customer through the number provided in the app. The lawsuit said that Wells spent ten minutes trying to contact the singer.
- Many of Lizzo’s fans came to her defense. One fan wrote, “[m]e pulling up to Tiffany’s house and stomping on her ass bc she deprived my baby Lizzo of her food”.
- The lawsuit accuses the singer of acting with actual malice because of the effect the tweet had on Wells’s life due to Lizzo’s popularity and prominent following on Twitter (1.2 million followers) and Instagram (6.3 million followers).
- Wells feared that people may recognize her if she continued to work for Postmates and would retaliate. She was scared to leave her house and because of that she quit her job and as a result, affected her ability to earn a living.
- Wells’s attorney Michael Rose told PEOPLE, “with celebrity status comes great responsibility…Lizzo has incredible influence in the public sphere, and broadcasting our client’s identity – along with falsely accusing Ms. Wells of stealing from her – to her vast number of followers invited threats against our client and forced a private individual into the public eye without her consent. This sort of behavior, from Lizzo or any celebrity, cannot be tolerated. I am confident in Ms. Wells’ claims and have faith that the justice system will bring a fair and just resolution in her favor.”
Lizzo’s representative could not be reached for a comment against these allegations.
