Lizzo‘s former backup dancers are standing their ground!
Just a week after the accusations dropped against the Truth Hurts singer, Crystal Williams, Arianna Davis, and Noelle Rodriguez are holding steady to their original statements. On Wednesday, Williams opened up to People about the bombshell case that’s taken over the news:
“We were treated poorly. Nobody did anything about it when we tried to speak up and advocate for ourselves. So now we’re doing it. I know that my mind feels a lot clearer. There was a lot of anxiety and a lot of feelings of being overwhelmed once our suit was made public. But today, I feel very proud to be pursuing this with these ladies.”
Williams and Davis maintain they were wrongfully terminated from their positions, while Rodriguez says she willingly resigned as a protest for her friends’ firings. The three of them banded together and pushed back against the management that alleged the three dancers had “unacceptable and disrespectful behavior”. Williams says, however, the accusations that she and her friends misbehaved came AFTER they stood up for themselves:
“[Those accusations] only came after [the] dance cast, that was predominantly either Black women or women of color, started advocating for themselves and asking for better treatment and to be paid what we deserve on the job.”
So awful…
Related: Lizzo Accused Of CHEATING With Boyfriend Myke Wright!
Rodriguez added, once again reiterating her intentions:
“And I really feel like that never applied to me because I voluntarily left on my own terms. I was so disgusted by the treatment that I saw.”
Davis, who was allegedly fired for gaining weight, refused to speak during the interview — but Rodriguez explained more about the situation. She told the outlet:
“They took a concern, but kind of a fake concern under the guise of, ‘What’s wrong with you? You’re different.’ I think an important thing to note as far as the body shaming and stuff is that if it were never an issue, why was it brought up in a meeting by Lizzo that people get fired for gaining weight? I would never think of hearing a statement like [that] from her or even being a reason for firing somebody.”
Lizzo’s entire brand has been built on championing body positivity, so it was definitely a huge shock for everyone to hear these allegations!
Williams went on to claim, though, the Good As Hell singer’s outward persona is MUCH different than what she’s like behind closed doors:
“It wasn’t until after the cameras stopped rolling that I really saw the other side of Lizzo and saw her for what she is because, sadly, she’s not the same behind closed doors. When the cameras aren’t rolling, she’s not the same person everybody sees on their TV screen.”
While speaking about THAT alleged night in the strip club where Davis claims she was pressured into doing sexually explicit acts she wasn’t comfortable with, Rodriguez said of the situation:
“I was uncomfortable. I was sick to my stomach for Arianna and the embarrassment I saw because she clearly did not want to do it. But I totally understand how somebody in a position of power could have that power over somebody to make her feel like she had to. When your job is constantly dangled in front of your face every day — and you’re being threatened for termination for these different reasons or accusations that aren’t true — of course you’ll want to make somebody happy and make them feel like, ‘I am a team player.’ I saw how uncomfortable she was and was even the one that was like, ‘You know what, Ari? Let’s go.’”
Meanwhile, as far as Shirlene Quigley — who’s being accused of sexual and religious harassment — Williams said:
“We could be at a lunch break and eating, talking, having a normal conversation, and we might think, ‘Oh, maybe she’s bringing notes, maybe she has something to say in regards to the show.’ But then she just hits us with some religious Jesus talk.”
Williams also said she believes Lizzo was “enabling and enforcing” racism:
“I do think that Lizzo was enabling and enforcing a racist system. She has an entirely white management team, so she kind of left it up to them to have the deciding factor on how we were handled. She was always siding with them. Even though she wasn’t being racist herself, she was still enabling it, unfortunately. It’s one of those things where the oppressed then becomes the oppressor whenever they get the power to do so.”
The lengthy legal complaint also alleged a tour bus driver sexually harassed Williams, and she claimed the hostile work environment made her hesitant to speak out:
“I brought it to the girls. At first, I didn’t want to say anything just because we know management’s history and how they handle things whenever you bring things to them. But the girls encouraged me to. I told them what happened, and they made it into a joke. They started laughing when I told them that one of the bus drivers — somebody we are in close proximity with every day going to these different cities, undressing, dressing up, things like that — and they made it into a joke. So, I already know from my past experiences with them every time something gets brought up, it’s not handled.”
So sad! Sexual harassment is not to be taken lightly, and it’s definitely not something anyone should be making into a joke!
The legal docs say an “emergency fitting” happened on May 3, which actually turned out to be a private meeting with Lizzo. Allegedly, the dancers had their phones confiscated for the evening. It’s here where the dancers claim the musician became “enraged” because Rodriguez recorded a performance as she was suffering an eye condition:
“Between her and the dance captain Shirlene, they were accosting Arianna and making her an example in front of the rest of our dance cast. I’ve just never experienced such disgusting behavior. I was sick to my stomach. Everybody in that room was in tears out of shock or fear. We were hysterical. We were just like, ‘I can’t believe this is what was done to us.’ … I was consistently being talked down to. It was just too much at that point. I really thought it would end up in Lizzo saying: ‘I’m sorry you feel that way’ or ‘Let’s just part ways’ or ‘Let’s talk about this and understand why you feel this way’ because of her brand and everything she stands up for. I really thought that that was the route it would take.”
She claims the About Damn Time songstress had to be “held back” from getting physical with her:
“I did believe if another dancer wasn’t there as that barrier, Lizzo would have definitely hit me … [The other dancers] were scared we would run into Lizzo in the lobby or the elevator returning to my hotel room. They’re like, ‘You need protection. She has her security. Who do you have?’”
The three ladies are NOT backing down, though. Williams told the outlet:
“You see this pattern of every time I speak up and advocate for myself, I’m either retaliated against, or there’s some gaslighting or anything to discredit what I’m saying. Instead of her addressing the issue, Lizzo wants to point fingers back at the other person who’s bringing up an issue.”
While Rodriguez added that with the other former employees that have been joining in with their own claims — they’ve “already won”:
“All of Lizzo’s former employees that have also come forward — we’ve given them the confidence to stand up, and they’re giving us the confidence to continue the fight. What our movement alone started in my eyes … we’ve already won.”
Damn!
Thoughts, Perezcious readers?
[Image via ET/YouTube/MEGA/WENN]
