Lizzo’s Former Doc Director Calls Her ‘Unkind,’ 2 Dancers Take To ‘Today’ Show About Allegations Amid Lawsuit
More claims are starting to come out against Lizzo and others on her team.
Shortly after news of a lawsuit filed against the “Truth Hurts” singer by several of her background dancers broke, the 35-year-old’s former documentary director speaks out about her alleged behavior, which she describes as “arrogant, self-centered and unkind.”
According to Entertainment Tonight, filmmaker Sophia Nahli Allison shared her experience with the Grammy Award winner on social media. According to her account, she briefly worked with the singer on her documentary in 2019. Along with a picture of her, in which she appears to be filming Lizzo while performing, Allison said she left her director role two weeks after it began.
“In 2019, I traveled a bit with Lizzo to be the director of her documentary. I walked away after about two weeks,” Allison wrote on Instagram Stories. “I was treated with such disrespect by her. I witnessed how arrogant, self-centered, and unkind she is.”
Allison explained she followed her gut when she quit the documentary, sharing she felt “gas lit and deeply hurt” while working with the singer.
“Reading these reports made me realize how dangerous of a situation it was,” she added. “This kind of abuse of power happens far too often. Much love and support to the dancers.”
Love, Lizzo premiered on HBO Max (now Max) in 2022. Doug Pray directed the project, and it is unclear whether Allison was the original director of the documentary or another project.
As Blavity reported, three of Lizzo’s former backup dancers filed a lawsuit against the singer on Tuesday. In it, they accuse the singer of sexual harassment, fostering a hostile work environment and more. Shirlene Quigley, Lizzo’s dance team captain, was one of the defendants mentioned in the complaint along with Lizzo’s production company.
Since then, more of Lizzo’s former collaborators have spoken about the singer. Courtney Hollinquest, another of the singer’s backup dancers, took to Instagram to share her experience with the singer. While she isn’t a plaintiff in the lawsuit, she claimed she dealt with harassment from Lizzo’s team.
“I’m not a part of the lawsuit — but this was very much my experience in my time there,” she wrote, Entertainment Tonight reported. “Big shoutout to the dancers who had the courage to bring this to light.”
Two dancers in the lawsuit, Arianna Davis and Crystal Williams, shed more light on their experience working with the 35-year-old on the Today show Wednesday morning, Bossip reported.
Davis claimed the singer “called attention” to her weight gain with “thinly veiled concerns.” She also said Lizzo allegedly encouraged them to touch performers at a strip club.
“She would pick and choose when she wanted to be professional and when she wanted things to be personal,” the dancers said.
According to the dancers, Lizzo allegedly said, “You know dancers get fired for gaining weight; you should basically be grateful to be here.”
While other celebrities haven’t weighed in on the allegations against Lizzo, CNN reported fans noticed that Beyoncé skipped over her name when she performed “Break My Soul (Queen’s Remix)” at a Tuesday concert in Massachusetts.
