Lizzo had a pretty swift fall from grace in 2023 following a lawsuit filed by three of her former dancers, Arianna Davis, Crystal Williams and Noelle Rodriguez, accusing the pop star of sexual harassment. Their accusations of the artist creating a hostile work environment were echoed by more of her ex-employees on social media — and legally by Asha Daniels, a former wardrobe assistant who also sued Lizzo over the working conditions she was allegedly subjected to. (A judge recently dismissed Lizzo from the suit, saying she couldn't be tried as an individual after Daniels identified the artist's touring and payroll companies — which are still on the hook — as her employer.)
In addition to unsuccessfully attempting to get the lawsuits thrown out, the pop star has denied the claims numerous times. She has also expressed her frustration at her name being dragged through the mud by threatening to quit the industry and taking a "gap year." Now, Lizzo has given her first in-depth interview in the wake of everything on actor Keke Palmer's Baby, This Is Keke Palmer podcast.
Lizzo had just finished her first arena tour when the lawsuit was filed last summer, and she told Palmer she had "needed time to process" everything. "I was literally living in my dream, and then the tour ended, and three ex-dancers just completely, like, blindsided me with a lawsuit," the musician explained. "I was completely surprised."
She went on to say that she was "very deeply hurt" by the dancers' allegations: "These were people I that I gave opportunities to," Lizzo said. "I liked them and appreciated them as dancers, and respected them as dancers, so I was like, 'What?'" She added that the claims "are the types of things that the media can turn into something that it's not."
"The hardest part about all of this is that none of these things are true," Lizzo continued. "They're very silly claims. I could go through every single one. The sexual harassment one is really the one that upsets me the most."
The lawsuit cited an incident on tour when Lizzo invited the dancers to a strip club in Amsterdam, encouraging them to "take turns touching the nude performers, catching dildos launched from the performers' vaginas, and eating bananas protruding from the performers' vaginas." In her conversation with Palmer, Lizzo reiterated her argument that the invitation was not mandatory and everything was consensual — but she admitted, "I don't think that people who I employ should even be privy to how I am in a bar at this point. I think that this experience taught me healthy boundaries. But to be real with you, it was such a fun night."
"Let's be clear: I did nothing wrong," Lizzo concluded, adding that they're continuing to fight the claims until they're all dismissed.
Davis, Williams and Rodriguez's attorney Ron Zambrano responded to the comments in a statement to Rolling Stone, writing:
There is an utter lack of awareness by Lizzo failing to see how these young women on her team who are just starting their careers would feel pressured to accept an invitation from their global celebrity boss who rarely hangs out with them. There is a power dynamic in the boss-employee context that Lizzo utterly fails to appreciate. We stand by the claims in the lawsuit and are prepared to prove everything in court with Lizzo on the stand under oath before a jury of her peers, not spouting nonsense and lies rationalizing a failure to take accountability on a podcast.
You can watch the hour-long podcast interview below.