A lawyer representing the dancers who accused Lizzo of sexual harassment has spoken out about the singer's appearance at the 2024 Grammys.
Many viewers were shocked when the musician presented the Best R&B Song Award to SZA for the track "Snooze." So was Neama Rahmani, who spoke out on his clients' behalf in a recent TMZ article.
He claimed that the Recording Academy would never include a white man facing similar allegations in the ceremony.
He was disappointed with the Recording Academy's decision to platform Lizzo. He also claimed the organization would never do something like that for a white man facing similar allegations.
Rahmani says he is still confident that Lizzo will be held responsible for her alleged misconduct through the lawsuit filed by his clients. The singer has denied all of the allegations.
The attorney helped three of Lizzo's former backup dancers – Arianna Davis, Crystal Williams, and Noelle Rodriguez – file a lawsuit in August 2023 after the singer allegedly created a hostile work environment.
The suit lists many instances of alleged misconduct. The dancers claim that on one occasion Lizzo demanded that they attend a performance with her at a sex club in Amsterdam's Red Light District, Billboard reported. There, the dancers were allegedly pressured into eating bananas protruding from the performers' genitals.
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Another dancer named Asha Daniels filed a separate lawsuit without Rahmani two months later.
In October 2023, TMZ obtained court documents where 18 members of Lizzo's touring crew backed the singer up and denied the claims made by the four backup dancers.
Lizzo's defense hit a roadblock on Friday, Feb. 2 when a judge denied her motion to have the lawsuit dismissed under California's anti-SLAPP statute, which was designed to quickly resolve meritless lawsuits targeting free speech.
"It is dangerous for the court to weigh in, ham-fisted, into constitutionally protected activity," Judge Mark H. Epstein said in a court filing obtained by Billboard. "But it is equally dangerous to turn a blind eye to allegations of discrimination or other forms of misconduct merely because they take place in a speech-related environment."
Three of Lizzo's former backup dancers have accused her of sexual misconduct.
The accusers panned Lizzo's legal maneuver in a previous court filing obtained by Deadline.
"Can a global celebrity be forever insulated from civil liability because all their conduct is protected as free speech under the anti-SLAPP statute? Defendant Lizzo asks this Court to rule in exactly that fashion. Fortunately for all victims of celebrity malfeasance, the law says otherwise," the document says.
"In an apparent effort to dupe this Court, Defendants either cherry-pick allegations or outright omit allegations inconvenient to their position, instead sanitizing them with euphemisms."
The singer has won four Grammys over the course of her career.
SZA had kind words for Lizzo as she accepted her award on Sunday, Feb. 4
"Lizzo and I have been friends since 2013, when we were both on a tiny Red Bull tour together," she said. "Opening up in small rooms for like a hundred people, and to be on the stage with her is so amazing. I’m so grateful."
Lizzo has taken home four Grammys over the course of her career. She won Record of the Year in 2023 for her song "About Damn Time." This came after she won Best Urban Contemporary Album, Best Pop Solo Performance and Best Traditional R&B Performance in 2020.
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