Harassment is Not "Good as Hell"

Lizzo, the worldwide renowned artist, has made a multitude of songs preaching about self-love, body positivity, female acceptance and many more empowering ideologies. “Rumors”, streamed more than 178 million times by worldwide fans, is a song about neglecting negative rumors spread around by haters about herself and focusing on her career.

And it’s happening in real time.

Are the “Rumors” true?

On August 2, 2023, three of Lizzo’s backup dancers – Arianna Davis, Crystal Williams and Noelle Rodriguez – filed a lawsuit against Lizzo, accusing her of creating a hostile work environment for them. These accusations include sexual, religious and racial harassment, and physical and emotional discrimination. The hostility does not end there: these backup dancers have also claimed that they have been forced into a sexual workplace environment.

One example presented by the plaintiff side was a claim that Lizzo has ever forced them to touch a burlesque performer’s breasts. This obviously created an uncomfortable situation for both the backup dancer and the nude performer, because they may have not consented to this action. Lizzo also asked questions about the dancer’s weight gain, which has a negative connotation as people could be insecure about their weight — what if the dancer could not have controlled it?

“About Damn Time” to clarify

Following the lawsuit that spread all throughout social media and made the headlines, Lizzo posted an Instagram post to address the accusations made against her. It was written:

“These last few days have been gut wrenchingly difficult and overwhelmingly disappointing. 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 not to 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.”

One side threw an accusation, and the receiving end shot back with another. Through this message, it seems as if Lizzo never denied the allegations. Instead, she deflected them and accused the suing backup dancers for “inappropriate and unprofessional” behavior. Furthermore, the constant and overwhelming usage of first person pronouns shows the egocentric nature of the message, completely disregarding the endangered workplace comfort of the backup dancers. The message shows that she is in danger, not the dancers.

Many are also critical of this response. The dancers that sued her accused her of gaslighting — possibly making herself look like the “victim” without regard for the actual victims. Juda Engelmayer, president of HeraldPR, a crisis communications firm, called the response “awful” and “almost dismissive”.

“Truth Hurts”

One flaw and everything crumbles. Ron Torossian, chairman and co-founder of 5WPR, a public relations firm, stated that her ideology stood on acceptance, inclusivity and general positivity. Hearing the scandal was shocking because the reported actions are contradictory to what she has preached and promoted. Additionally, six new similar reports have been received.

Due to a massive reputation crisis, a show that she was set to perform in, called Made in America, was canceled. Plans to include her into the Super Bowl halftime show were scrapped.

And it’s not just Lizzo?

Unfortunately, it’s not just Lizzo. 9630 workers participated in the survey done by the Hollywood Commission, a non-profit organization that advocates for workers in the entertainment industry. They found that only 35% of workers believe that workplace harassers will be punished for malpractice in the workplace, and a whopping 41% would not report gender or sexual harassment, citing fears of punishment from the same harassers. A 2020 policy brief from the International Labour Organization (ILO) found that the entertainment industry’s lack of structure makes holding higher-ups accountable for harassment, workplace abuse and gender inequality difficult — without clear organizational structure, we do not know who to accuse.

David E. Shane, director of programs at A.R.T./New York, an organization that provides logistical and financial services to non-profit theaters in New York, theorized the existence of a “passion gap”: the gap between what workers would usually not accept and how much more they will accept due to the given opportunity. This occurs due to the rarity of job opportunities. “They might think, ‘If I say no, I’ll be labeled as difficult, and I won’t get another opportunity’.”

Despite preaching about body positivity, inclusivity and female empowerment, Lizzo was allegedly not applying the very values she preached in her work place. Denying those allegations results in a future trial, which both Lizzo, supported by lawyer Marty Singer, and the backup dancers, supported by lawyer Ron Zambrano, are ready for. Sadly, many more unheard and unreported cases of harassment happen constantly in the entertainment industry, due to the scarcity of opportunities.