Lizzo Dropped from Super Bowl Halftime Show Consideration Amid Dancers' Sexual Harassment and Abuse Allegations: Report
Nine ex-employees of Lizzo have now filed suit against her, with the result that the performer is no longer in the running for a role in this year’s Super Bowl halftime show, according to the U.K.’s Daily Mail.
In an exclusive report, the Daily Mail said that insiders told them the sexual harassment and other claims have left Lizzo’s team searching for ways to “save her sinking ship.”
Three former dancers first filed the hostile work environment claims against Lizzo, whose real name is Melissa Viviane Jefferson, last month.
More recently, a source the Daily Mail described as an “NFL insider” told the outlet that Lizzo is no longer in consideration for either the halftime show or for performing the national anthem prior to the game, which is scheduled for Las Vegas in February.
“Talks of Lizzo being a part of the Halftime festivities, or performing the National Anthem, are dead now that she is surrounded by scandal,” the unnamed source reportedly said.
A second unnamed source reportedly told the Daily Mail that the performer’s team has now been left “desperately trying to come up with a strategy” to salvage her career, with some expressing pessimism.
“It is becoming more and more difficult with more people coming forth accusing her of extremely inappropriate acts,” the source, described as being associated with the music industry, told the Daily Mail. “Lizzo has raked in a massive amount of money but her minute is pretty much up it seems and no one knows if she will be able to recover from this.”
The same source said that there didn’t appear to be a way for Lizzo to win this battle.
“If she speaks out, her statements are shredded. If she stays quiet, she is called a coward. Either way, it does not appear at this moment that she can recover from this,” the source said.
At the center of the controversy are three former tour dancers — Arianna Davis, Crystal Williams, and Noelle Rodriguez — who filed a complaint earlier this month in Los Angeles describing the purportedly “body-positive” Lizzo as “anything but what she seems.”
They accused Lizzo of fat-shaming them on more than one occasion and using her position to pressure them into lewd and demeaning acts. None of this is new to the entertainment industry, but it certainly does not accord with Lizzo’s public persona.
According to a report from Breitbart, Lizzo took her dancers to a strip club in Amsterdam where she forced them to participate in a variety of degrading activities.
Attorney Ron Zambrano, who is representing the three plaintiffs, told Breitbart that he had been contacted by others who have shared similar stories about Lizzo.
In addition, filmmaker Sophia Nahli Allison canceled a documentary she had been filming about the singer after two weeks of experiencing Lizzo’s behavior.
WARNING: The following tweet contains language that some may find offensive.
“I was treated with such disrespect by her,” she wrote at the time. “I witnessed how arrogant, self-centered, and unkind she is.”
Sharing this because validating other Black women’s experiences is deeply important to me. pic.twitter.com/gd2xEK6szq
— Sophia Nahli Allison (@SophiaNAllison) August 1, 2023
The NFL did not respond to requests for comment, and Lizzo has denied the allegations.
“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,” Lizzo said in a statement.
“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.”
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