Over the weekend, singer Lizzo posted an emotional passage on her Instagram account, complaining about the backlash she's been facing and being "dragged by everyone," which concluded with the star proclaiming "I quit!" On April 1, a lawyer representing three of Lizzo's former dancers, who are suing the star for a variety of harassment claims, issued a response.
Lizzo's 'I quit' statement on social media has drawn criticism from a lawyer representing three of her former dancers.
"It's a joke that Lizzo would say she is being bullied by the internet when she should instead be taking an honest look at herself," said Los Angeles-based attorney Ron Zambrano (via Entertainment Weekly). "Her latest post is just another outburst seeking attention and trying to deflect from her own failings as she continues to blame everyone else for the predicament she is in. Lizzo's legal and public relations strategy is a failure, so she is desperately trying to play the victim.
"She has thrown these childish tantrums before. No one actually believes she is quitting music. But she should quit sexually harassing, shaming, and bullying her employees and finally accept responsibility for her actions."
Zambrano went further in his assessment (via a Vibe article) of Lizzo, comparing her alleged wrongdoing to that of Diddy and Nickelodeon’s Dan Schneider, saying, "She can make all of this go away simply by seizing the opportunity here to set an example, own up to her mistakes, pay what’s due to those she's wronged and work on becoming a better person […] There is no more safe place in society for this sort of behavior as the entire industry is in for a reckoning for permitting such vile treatment of employees in the workplace."
The three dancers filed a lawsuit against Lizzo, claiming alleged "sexual harassment, weight-shaming, racial discrimination and creating a hostile work environment." Lizzo has denied the allegations. In February, a judge shut down Lizzo's request to drop the case, though some allegations were dismissed, including one dancer's claims of fat-shaming.
In an update on Billboard, Lizzo spokesperson Stefan Friedman shared a tersely-worded response: "With nearly half his case dismissed, 18 independent witnesses siding with Lizzo and no settlement on the way to get him his tasty contingency fee, Ron has started making wild personal attacks that have absolutely nothing to do with the clients who he is supposedly representing. We would humbly recommend that Ron start representing his clients and stop representing just himself."
Lizzo has denied the allegations in the lawsuit filed against her.
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Lizzo's original post read: "I'm getting tired of putting up with being dragged by everyone in my life and on the internet. All I want to do is make music and make people happy and help the world be a little better than how I found it. But I'm starting to feel like the world doesn't want me in it. I'm constantly up against lies being told about me for clout & views...being the butt of the joke every time because of how I look...my character being picked apart by people who don't know me and disrespecting my name. I didn't sign up for this s--t -- I quit."
There have been no further statements or posts from Lizzo on her social media accounts since March 29, and there has been no word on any new music forthcoming since her last release, Special, in 2022.
