Lizzo has lost a significant number of followers on Instagram as allegations emerge of sexual harassment and body-shaming.
The Good As Hell hitmaker, 35, is being sued by three of her former backing dancers for alleged sexual harassment, discrimination and creating a hostile work environment.
Lizzo has lost 123,489 followers on Instagram since the news broke and now has 13.4million followers.
In just one day, the singer’s follower count fell by a huge 88,885. While on Twitter/X, Lizzo has lost over 14,000 followers since the lawsuit was filed in California on Tuesday 1st August.
Casino comparison site KingCasinoBonus analysed data on Lizzo’s social channels via Social Blade.
Heading towards cancellations? Lizzo has lost over 120,000 followers on Instagram amid those sexual harassment and body-shaming claims made by her backing dancers
Dropping: Lizzo has lost 123,489 followers on Instagram since the news broke and now has 13.4million followers
On Friday, Lizzo dismissed the sexual harassment lawsuit filed against her as ‘unbelievable’ and ‘outrageous’ as she broke her silence on the claims.
She insisted the claims are untrue and alleged her accusers had previously been warned about their own ‘inappropriate and unprofessional’ conduct.
She also finally addressed THOSE banana sex act allegations which claimed the singer invited cast members to eat bananas from nude performers’ vaginas while in Amsterdam.
Lizzo wrote in a statement: ‘These last few days have been gut wrenchingly difficult and overwhelmingly disappointing.
Breaking her silence: On Thursday, Lizzo branded the sexual harassment lawsuit against her ‘unbelievable and outrageous’ in a statement posted to Instagram (stock image)
Fruity! The singer, 35, also finally addressed THOSE banana sex act allegations, saying: ‘I am very open with my sexuality and expressing myself but I cannot accept or allow people to use that openness to make me out to be something I am not’
‘My work ethic, morals and respectfulness have been questioned. My character has been criticized. Usually I choose not to respond to false allegations but these are as unbelievable as they sound and too outrageous to not be addressed.
‘These sensationalized stories are coming from former employees who have already publicly admitted that they were told their behavior on tour was inappropriate and unprofessional.
‘As an artist I have always been very passionate about what I do. I take my music and my performances seriously because at the end of the day I only want to put out the best art that represents me and my fans.
‘With passion comes hard work and high standards. Sometimes I have to make hard decisions but it’s never my intention to make anyone feel uncomfortable or like they aren’t valued as an important part of the team.
‘l am not here to be looked at as a victim, but I also know that I am not the villain that people and the media have portrayed me to be these last few days.
‘I am very open with my sexuality and expressing myself but I cannot accept or allow people to use that openness to make me out to be something I am not.
‘There is nothing I take more seriously than the respect we deserve as women in the world. I know what it feels like to be body shamed on a daily basis and would absolutely never criticize or terminate an employee because of their weight.
‘I’m hurt but I will not let the good work I’ve done in the world be overshadowed by this. I want to thank everyone who has reached out in support to lift me up during this difficult time.’
Lizzo’s statement in full: The singer addressed all the claims and said her morals and values have been called into question
Plaintiffs Arianna Davis, Crystal Williams and Noelle Rodriguez have accused the Grammy winner – as well as the Big Grrrl Big Touring and dance team captain Shirlene Quigley – of creating a ‘sexually charged and uncomfortable’ work environment in their lawsuit.
The trio claim while on a concert trip with the artist to Amsterdam in February 2023, Lizzo invited them for a night out on the town that ended in the city’s Red Light District.
They said in their filing: ‘Things quickly got out of hand. Lizzo began inviting cast members to take turns touching the nude performers, catching dildos launched from the performers’ vaginas, and eating bananas protruding from the performers’ vaginas.’
The dancers added Lizzo allegedly ‘pressured’ and ‘goaded’ Arianna into touching one of the nude performers’ breasts.
She refused multiple times, while the popstar allegedly chanted louder and louder to encourage her to do the act, the lawsuit claimed. She eventually did touch the performer.
In another instance, the plaintiffs claim Lizzo invited the dancers to a club in Paris – but failed to mention that it was a nude cabaret bar. This ‘shocked’ the dancers, who said Lizzo ‘robbed them of the choice not to participate,’ the suit said.
Lizzo also allegedly made a claim the dancers were drinking before performances, which Williams then spoke out about. The popstar allegedly made the group go through an ‘excruciating’ 12-hour rehearsal.
Arianna, meanwhile, soiled her pants during the intense rehearsal because she was so fearful she’d lose her job, the documents state. She was then handed a see-through outfit with no undergarments to finish the performance, the suit said.
Rodriguez complained to a manager about the decision to publicly fire Williams, after Lizzo had told the group she had ‘eyes and ears everywhere’.
Davis recorded the meeting on April 27, because she claimed she suffers from an eye condition that leaves her disoriented.
But as a result, Lizzo held a meeting and had security confiscate dancers’ phones, the lawsuit claimed.
When Davis tried to tell Lizzo and Quigley she meant no harm recording the meeting, they berated her and Lizzo fired her on the spot, the suit read.
Rodriguez then expressed how she felt disrespected and threatened to resign – to which Lizzo said she was ‘lucky’.
When Rodriguez did indeed quit, Lizzo showed her two middle fingers and yelled a slur at her, the lawsuit claimed.
Oh dear: Lizzo has been accused of encouraging ‘catching dildos launched from the performers’ vaginas, and eating bananas protruding from the performers’ vaginas’
Claims: Arianna Davis (pictured) claimed she soiled her pants during an intense rehearsal because she was so fearful she’d lose her job
Plaintiff: Crystal Williams (pictured) spoke out against allegations Lizzo made that the dancers were drinking before their performances. She was fired a few days later
Legal battle: The dancers’ claims can be seen in court documents
Ron Zambrano, the plaintiffs’ attorney, said in a statement: ‘The stunning nature of how Lizzo and her management team treated their performers seems to go against everything Lizzo stands for publicly, while privately she weight-shames her dancers and demeans them in ways that are not only illegal but absolutely demoralizing.’
Hours after the lawsuit news was made public, Lizzo’s former creative director Quinn Whitney Wilson and dancer Courtney Hollinquest claimed they experienced similar mistreatment.
Courtney said on her Instagram on Tuesday: ‘For clarification, I’m not a part of the lawsuit – but this was very much my experience in my time there.
‘Big shoutout to the dancers who had the courage to bring this to light.’
Quinn shared a screenshot online of Courtney’s statement to her own social media page, saying she was ‘echoing’ everything that was already said.
She added: ‘I haven’t been a part of that world for around three years, for a reason.
‘I very much applaud the dancers courage to bring this to light. and I grieve parts of my own experience.
‘I’d appreciate space to understand my feelings.’
A 2019 interview in which Lizzo made pointed remarks involving her interest in seeing bananas incorporated into sex acts has also resurfaced following news of the lawsuit.
The Grammy Award-winning performer in 2019 spoke with 3FM Gemist Frank van der Lende about the racy ongoings she’d observed while visiting Amsterdam’s Red Light District on past tours.
The songstress, whose real name is Melissa Viviane Jefferson, said that one show consisted of ‘people f***ing’ in front of an audience, which she described as both ‘crazy’ and ‘beautiful’.
The Detroit native added in the chat, ‘I’m trying to go to the show where you eat the banana out the p***** – which one is that?’ to which van der Lende told her it was the Bananenbar.
The Truth Hurts artist said, ‘Oh, that’s the Bananenbar? And they have the banana in the coochie and you have to’ bite on it.
She added, ‘I need my potassium if you know what I’m saying – my p***-tassium.’
Lizzo’s rise to prominence
Woes: The rise and fall of Lizzo: How HAS the pop icon gone from being a champion of body positivity and feminism to the verge of cancellation for body shaming?
Shocking: The feminist icon’s career is hanging by a thread after being sued by three backup dancers accusing her of sexual harassment and creating a hostile work environment
Born Melissa Jefferson, Lizzo is best known as a US singer and rapper, who kickstarted her career with her hits Juice and Good As Hell in 2019.
Her music career first took off while she was living in Minneapolis, and she received huge support from legendary artist Prince.
During her rise to stardom, Lizzo performed with many different groups and duos, forming an electro soul-pop duo called Lizzo and the Larva Inks, as well as an all-female rap and R&B group, The Chalice.
Her father, Michael, passed away when she was 21, and following his death, Lizzo struggled with her mental mental health and lived in her car while pursuing music as a career.
When her song Truth Hurts flopped in 2017, Lizzo admitted she came dangerously close to quitting music and sought therapy, telling The Times in 2020: ‘That was really scary.
‘But being vulnerable with someone I didn’t know, then learning how to be vulnerable with people that I do know, gave me the courage to be vulnerable as a vocalist.’
The tracks that made Lizzo a star were a far cry from her original career path as a classical flutist, though she regularly shows off her skills on-stage.
Her first major label album Cuz I Love You, made it into the Billboard Top Ten, featuring the one-flopped track Truth Hurts, which received a huge resurgence despite originally being released in 2017.
Lizzo released her second mainstream album, Special, in 2022, which featured one of her most well-known tracks About Damn Time, which soared to number one on the US charts.
A body positivity advocate
Confident! Ever since her career began, Lizzo has been praised for advocating body positivity and confidence, no matter your size or shape
Ever since her career began, Lizzo has been praised for advocating body positivity and confidence, no matter your size or shape.
She’s never shied away from flaunting her curves in a slew of sexy and revealing looks, whether it be on-stage, the red carpet, or Instagram.
But in a previous interview with Vogue, she revealed that she would prefer to be known for being ‘body-normative’ rather than ‘body positive’.
She said: ‘I think it’s lazy for me to just say I’m body positive at this point…I would like to be body-normative. I want to normalize my body.’
The star added that she’s ready to continue paving the way for ‘girls with back fat’ and ‘girls with bellies that hang’ saying, ‘I owe it to the people who started this to not just stop here’.
‘We have to make people uncomfortable again, so that we can continue to change. Change is always uncomfortable, right?’
Lizzo is also no stranger to defending herself and the body positivity movement, appearing on The Zane Lowe Show in August 2021, saying: ‘People saying s**t about me that just doesn’t even make sense. It’s fat-phobic, and it’s racist, and it’s hurtful.
‘If you don’t like my music,…
