Lizzo named in new bullying and harassment lawsuit from fashion designer
Lizzo has been named in a new bullying and harassment lawsuit from a former fashion designer on her team.
In a lawsuit filed today (September 21), Asha Daniels alleged bullying, harassment and racial discrimination behind the scenes on the singer’s team.
It comes after Lizzo was sued by three of her former backup dancers earlier this summer, who accuse her of creating a hostile work environment and engaging in sexual harassment among other allegations.
Speaking to NBC News the same day the lawsuit was filed, Daniels said: “I felt like I was living in a madhouse. It was totally shocking.”
She added: “I was listening to this Black woman on this huge stage have this message of self-love and caring for others and being empathetic and being strong and standing up for others.
“And I was witnessing myself, the dancers and the background vocalists and my local team in every city be harassed and bullied regularly.”
The lawsuit accuses Lizzo’s wardrobe manager Amanda Nomura of referring to dancers as “fat,” “useless” and “dumb” and alleges that Daniels was fired by Nomura after complaining.
It added that Nomura would allegedly perform stereotypical impressions of Black women and make them change in front of a largely white and male crew who would “lewdly gawk” at them.
In a statement, Daniels’ lawyer Ron Zambrano said: “Lizzo is the boss, so the buck stops with her.”
In response, a spokesperson for Lizzo claimed that the lawsuit was “a bogus, absurd publicity-stunt lawsuit” from a person who “never actually met or even spoke with Lizzo.”
It added: “We will pay this as much attention as it deserves. None.”
In other news, Lizzo‘s lawyer revealed last month that the singer intends to sue her former backup dancers for “malicious prosecution” following their lawsuit against her.
According to a statement shared by Lizzo’s attorney Martin Singer on August 23, they “intend to sue for malicious prosecution after she prevails and these specious claims are dismissed”. He also added: “The lawsuit is a sham.”
Lizzo has previously shared a statement regarding the suit in which she said she was “hurt” and denied the allegations. The three dancers then responded to her statement, saying it was “disheartening” to read.
Williams and Rodriguez later alleged in an interview with Sky News that they tried to “settle” the disagreement “in-house” before filing a lawsuit, but claim they were met with a “rebuttal” from Lizzo’s team.
Zambrano, who is also representing the dancers, then claimed his firm is reviewing at least six new complaints about the singer.
