Lately, Lizzo hasn’t been feeling “good as h*&%.” After being sued by her former backup dancers, “who have accused her of inappropriate and unfair conduct,” the Grammy-winning singer is countersuing in an attempt to repair the damage to her reputation.
Marty Singer, Lizzo’s lawyer, alleges that the plaintiffs exhibited hypocritical behavior, as evidenced by photos of the dancers “‘happily cavorting backstage’ with performers from Crazy Horse’s topless cabaret show on March 5, 2023 in Paris – after they claimed Lizzo pressured them into attending the performance while on tour in the lawsuit.”
In a statement, Singer said, “These images showing the three plaintiffs gleefully reveling backstage after the topless show were taken after their February 2023 visit to Bananenbar in Amsterdam that they complain about in their lawsuit.”
Trial attorney Brian G. Buckmire told ESSENCE, “Lizzo’s counter suit is for malicious prosecution.” But does she have a case?
Buckmire contended that it will be an uphill battle, stating “The difficulty with winning a malicious prosecution claim is 1) having a favorable outcome in the original case against Lizzo and 2) showing there was no reasonable grounds for the original suit.”
“The dancers have some strong claims, like failure to remedy a sexual harassment and sexual harassment that created a hostile work environment,” Buckmire added, “She has to not only prove the dancers were wrong about these claims but that they knew it at the time. Not just that they have a differing opinion of what happened.”
Neama Rahmani– attorney for plaintiffs Arianna Davis, Crystal Williams and Noelle Rodriguez–– states that her clients “stand by every claim in the lawsuit and look forward to trial,” continuing “Our clients aren’t afraid of Singer or his empty threats or his victim shaming…I’ve handled thousands of cases, including prosecuting drug cartels so we have no plans to back down. Let’s see if Singer can actually try a case in a courtroom instead of the media.”
“Lizzo’s threat to countersue for malicious prosecution is an insidious attempt at intimidation and delivers a chilling effect to all harassment victims in the workplace,” said attorney Ron Zambrano, who also represents the former backup dancers, continuing, “The scare tactics, bullying and victim shaming coming from Lizzo’s team is exactly the behavior employees face in the entertainment industry who feel they have no choice but to ‘suck it up’ for access and success.”
This is just the latest legal controversy for the embattled singer, wherein a legal settlement was reached earlier this year “with fourteen members of Lizzo’s dance team after they complained that footage recorded during a rehearsal for the 2019 MTV Video Music Awards appeared in last year’s documentary ‘Love Lizzo’.”