*Last week Lizzo’s legal team shared her intention to file a countersuit against the three former dancers who are suing her, but her accusers are calling it an “attempt at intimidation.”
We reported previously that Arianna Davis, Crystal Williams, and Noelle Rodriguez are suing Lizzo and the singer’s dance captain Shirlene Quigley, claiming they were subjected to sexual harassment, religious harassment, disability discrimination, and a toxic work environment.
According to The Blast, attorney Ron Zambrano, who represents the plaintiffs, wrote in a statement to Page Six: “Lizzo’s threat to countersue for malicious prosecution is an insidious attempt at intimidation and delivers a chilling effect to all harassment victims in the workplace.”
He noted that Lizzo’s team’s approach of “scare tactics, bullying, and victim-shaming,” highlights the perverse behaviors in the entertainment industry.
The lawyer also believes that “Her team is merely trying to suppress the truth and hide her hypocrisy of publicizing her brand as one of empowerment and body positivity while privately depriving women of their empowerment.”
Lizzo’s attorney, Marty Singer, revealed her intention to file a lawsuit against the three women. He also shared images showing the plaintiffs “happily carousing” and “gleefully reveling” backstage with topless cabaret performers in Paris, TMZ reports. The photos were allegedly taken about a month after the infamous banana incident with Lizzo in Amsterdam.
In their lawsuit against the artist, the dancers recall one incident when Lizzo allegedly pressured Davis to touch the breasts of a nude performer at an Amsterdam club, Daily Mail reports. Lizzo allegedly encouraged “catching dildos launched from the performers’ vaginas and eating bananas protruding from the performers’ vaginas,” per the lawsuit, according to Daily Mail.
Lizzo’s accusers claim she pressured them to go to the Paris topless show, but Singer tells TMZ that their reaction seemingly contradicts the photos taken March 5, about a month after the February visit to Bananenbar in Amsterdam.
Per TMZ, Singer said the former Big Grrrl dancers are “happily cavorting backstage” with the topless performers.
In response, an attorney for the plaintiffs, Neama Rahmani, told TMZ, “Of course, they wanted to keep their jobs. They had bills to pay just like everyone else but they finally had enough of the abuse. We stand by every claim in the lawsuit and look forward to trial.”
Rahmani added, “We’ve been hearing from other former employees sharing similar stories, and as seen in the Los Angeles Times article today about how Lizzo used intimate footage of her dancers without their approval in the 2022 HBO Max ‘Love Lizzo’ documentary, we’re seeing even more of a pattern of just how much Lizzo thinks of those who work for her. Clearly, not very much.”
READ MORE: Lizzo to Sue Accusers After Controversial New Photos Surface of Dancers
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