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By Lisa Respers France, celebrity.land<\/p>\n
(celebrity.land) \u2014 <\/b>Since releasing her fifth album in early June, the pop star Lizzo has been on something of a tear.<\/p>\n
After reaching eye-watering success with hits like \u201cTruth Hurts\u201d and \u201cAbout Damn Time,\u201d the four-time Grammy winner\u2019s latest effort has dropped with a thud, reportedly streaming<\/a> under a million times on Spotify within the first 24 hours of its release, selling<\/a> fewer than 3,000 copies in its first week according to Rolling Stone and failing to crack<\/a> the Billboard 200 in the first two weeks.<\/p>\n Once ubiquitous in the culture \u2014 as much for her full-on embrace of self-love and body positivity as for her infectious anthems \u2014 Lizzo is now relegated to \u201cwhat happened to her?\u201d status.<\/p>\n On social media, the 38-year-old pop star has offered her own theories as to why her album, the provocatively titled \u201cBitch,\u201d is failing to break through, while also appearing to push back on haters. \u201cThe algorithm-based way that social media functions now is destroying the music industry,\u201d she said in a TikTok posted on May 12<\/a>, addressing why some may not have even been aware she was dropping a new album just weeks later. \u201cIf your algorithm is super serving you things out of order of when they\u2019re happening, then the general public has no idea when music is actually coming out.\u201d<\/p>\n But a lot of other people have thoughts, too.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was never our intention to take down a woman of color,\u201d said Noelle Rodriguez, one of three dancers who filed suit<\/a> against Lizzo in 2023, a moment that severely challenged the singer\u2019s public image. \u201cIt was never an intention to take down a plus size woman of color specifically.\u201d<\/p>\n Rodriguez and her co-claimants \u2014 Arianna Davis and Crystal Williams \u2014 levied accusations of sexual harassment, body shaming and a hostile workplace against Lizzo, as well as her production company Big Grrrl Big Touring, Inc. (BGBT) and a person described as \u201cdance cast captain.\u201d<\/p>\n The three women have not spoken about their suit against Lizzo beyond interviews when it was initially filed in August 2023 and came together recently to talk exclusively with celebrity.land.<\/p>\n They are watching this moment with mixed emotions. On one hand, they feel disappointed and traumatized following what they allege happened after they were hired for a job they felt was important, particularly as women with bigger bodies. On the other, they say they are determined to see the case through.<\/p>\n Their intention, they insist, was not to hurt their former boss, but rather to hold her accountable for the values she has publicly portrayed herself as holding.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t really think it\u2019s our place to discuss or even have an opinion on how her career is going at this point, when that wasn\u2019t even our reason for filing in the first place,\u201d Rodriguez said. \u201cIt was never a smear campaign. It was never to take somebody down. I think if anything, in retrospect, I\u2019ve actually had some sadness in the fact that it has impacted her career.\u201d<\/p>\n Lizzo\u2019s attorney Melissa Glass said in a statement that the claims made in the suit \u201chave no basis in reality.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNot a single witness has come forward to support their allegations,\u201d the statement read. \u201cIn fact, their claims were refuted by 18 witnesses, including most of the other dancers on \u2018The Special Tour.\u2019\u201d Glass added, \u201cwe are confident that Lizzo will prevail in the case.\u201d<\/p>\n Lizzo has other defenders.<\/p>\n Chawnta\u2019 Van, who first danced with Lizzo in 2019 and worked with the three women who filed the lawsuit, said she felt \u201cblindsided\u201d and \u201cheartbroken\u201d by the allegations as she thought everyone on the tour \u201cwere all in this together, but apparently not.\u201d<\/p>\n After the suit was filed, Van said plans for all future performances with Lizzo ground to a halt.<\/p>\n \u201cAs a dancer, we\u2019re the lowest paid. We work gig by gig, literally,\u201d said Van, who was connected to celebrity.land through Lizzo\u2019s attorneys. \u201cSo when all this stuff came out and everything got canceled, it was really hard.\u201d<\/p>\n When Lizzo burst on the scene in 2019, it seemed to herald, or at least symbolize, a new moment. Here was this force of musical prowess and personal charisma, living unapologetically as herself \u2014 and being celebrated for it. As a plus-sized Black woman, she inspired millions \u2014 and also saw her body unfairly used to litigate the issues of the day. She faced enormous scrutiny \u2014 and fought back in kind, like when she didn\u2019t take criticism about her backside-bearing outfit causing a stir at a Laker game in 2019.<\/p>\n \u201cIt doesn\u2019t really matter what goes on on the internet, nothing really breaks my joy,\u201d she said at the time<\/a>. \u201cI\u2019m a really solid, grounded person, and I know that I\u2019m shocking because you\u2019ve never seen \u2014 in a long time \u2014 a body like mine doing whatever it wants to do and dressing the way that it dresses and moving the way that it moves.\u201d<\/p>\n The claims in the lawsuit \u2014 which included allegations that the dancers felt pressured in going to nude shows and interacting with performers\u2014 stand at odds with Lizzo\u2019s public image and message. \u201cI feel like her whole brand, aside from body positivity, was positivity in general \u2014 uplifting women, especially uplifting women of color and just, you know, being kind to one another, being kind to yourself,\u201d Williams said in an interview. \u201cHer entire message and platform and her brand was the entire opposite whenever doors were closed, whenever we were in private meetings.\u201d<\/p>\n Lizzo has denied the accusations. Shortly after the suit was filed, she posted a statement on social media calling<\/a> the allegations \u201cfalse\u201d and \u201cas unbelievable as they sound.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI 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,\u201d Lizzo wrote.<\/p>\n In the three years since it\u2019s been filed, the lawsuit has been inching along, with both sides trading briefs and appeals, Ron Zambrano, a lawyer for the three women, said in an interview. Last year, a judge threw out the accusations of body shaming following a motion from Lizzo\u2019s team that argued that events like the nude show outings were protected free speech as part of the creative process. Zambrano and his clients are currently waiting for a date from the California Court of Appeal to hear oral arguments.<\/p>\n Speaking to the \u201cToday\u201d show, Lizzo said she declined to settle the suit because \u201cI\u2019m a woman who is not afraid of the truth coming out, so I\u2019m continuing to fight.\u201d<\/p>\n Many fans were taken aback by the lawsuit and in the aftermath, the singer took breaks from social media. When she re-emerged in 2024, she was slimmer but still happy to show off her body, first in a sheer Jean Paul Gaultier black-and-white dress<\/a> and later on social media.<\/p>\n The same year, Lizzo said in a social media video<\/a> that she was no longer vegan, having discovered that adding things like egg white cups and grilled chicken helped her feel better and achieve her weight loss goals. She went on to record a version<\/a> of the \u201cBaby Back Ribs\u201d jingle for Chili\u2019s, appearing in an ad playing a rib-shaped flute.<\/p>\nA new moment<\/h2>\n
Vibe shift<\/h2>\n