Grammy winner Lizzo's sexual harassment lawsuit, filed by her former background dancer, moves forward after the Judge denies the motion to dismiss the case.
In a long-standing case against Lizzo, there has been an update. Her request for the dismissal of the sexual harassment lawsuit against her has been rejected by Court. On Friday, a judge in the Los Angeles County Superior Court ruled that the case will proceed further.
The ruling was in response to an August 1, 2023 lawsuit in which the Grammy winner’s former background dancers - Arianna Davis, Crystal Williams and Noelle Rodriguez - alleged that they were abused, harassed, and discriminated against, while working for the musician, and her company, Big Grrrl Big Touring Inc.
Ron Zambrano, the attorney representing the dancers, gave a statement to PEOPLE. He said, “We’re very pleased with the judge’s ruling, and we absolutely consider it a victory on balance.”
He went on to add that Judge Mark H. Epstein “did dismiss a few allegations,” which included claims of Davis being fat-shamed, their involvement in a nude photo shoot, and dancers being forced to be on “hold” when not accompanying the ‘Truth Hurts’ singer on tour.
“However, all the other claims remain, including sexual, religious and racial discrimination, sexual harassment, the demeaning visits to the Bananenbar in Amsterdam and Crazy Horse in Paris, false imprisonment, and assault. The ruling also rightfully signals that Lizzo — or any celebrity — is not insulated from this sort of reprehensible conduct merely because she is famous. We now look forward to conducting discovery and preparing the case for trial,” Zambrano added further.
While Lizzo hasn’t personally spoken up about it, a spokesman, Stefan Friedman, told ET on her behalf that, “We are pleased that Judge Epstein wisely threw out all or part of four of the plaintiffs’ causes of action. Lizzo is grateful to the judge for seeing through much of the noise and recognizing who she is — a strong woman who exists to lift others up and spread positivity. We plan to appeal all elements that the judge chose to keep in the lawsuit and are confident we will prevail.”
However, back in August 2023, Lizzo addressed the allegations on social media with a detailed statement, not pleading guilty to the “outrageous” claims and emphasizing that, “I am not the villain that people and the media have portrayed me to be.”