Lizzo says dancers’ sexual harassment lawsuit is attack on free speech

[Teletubby 146,454]

Lizzo is launching an appeal aimed at ending a sexual harassment lawsuit filed by her former dancers, calling it an “attack” on her “First Amendment right to perform her music and advocate for body positivity.”

The case, filed in 2023, accuses Lizzo of sexual harassment and discrimination. Though a judge dismissed some claims last year – including claim about fat-shaming – he allowed the overall lawsuit to move ahead toward a jury trial.

In an opening brief Lizzo's attorneys urged an appeals court overturn that ruling and toss out the entire case.
They say Lizzo’s behavior toward the dancers was clearly part of her artistic approach — and thus shielded by constitutional protections for free speech.

“Plaintiffs’ suit [is] an attack on Lizzo’s First Amendment right to perform her music and advocate for body positivity” .
“Rather than accept personal accountability, plaintiffs filed this shotgun action, taking aim at nearly every facet of Lizzo’s creative process.”

One key claim in the case against Lizzo is that she pushed the dancers to attend a sex show in Amsterdam’s  Bananenbar, then pressured them to touch and engage with nude performers. But her lawyers say that incident – which they stress was entirely optional — was directly tied to the creation of her art and thus cannot form the basis of legal liablity.

“There’s no disagreement that Lizzo held these outings as a necessary part of her creative process,” writes her attorney.
“Early social gatherings during international tours (like the Bananenbar) are critical to teambuilding and fostering cohesion.”

The star’s legal defense centered on California’s so-called anti-SLAPP law — a special statute that makes it easier to quickly end lawsuits that threaten free speech. In seeking to dismiss the case under that law, Lizzo’s lawyers argued the dancers wanted to “silence” Lizzo and “weaponize” her creative expression against her.

If the appeals court sides with Lizzo, the case will be dismissed. If the court sides with dancers, the case will move toward an eventual jury trial.

 

[Eido 3,670]

Is she for real? 

[weed 73,337]

I feel like in general people were forgetting but then she had to drop this and I'm like girl she's 100% guilty. 

[skaxboy 5,288]

WTF?!?!? 
 

Writing your music how you want is free speech. Singing your songs how you want is free speech. 
 

Forcing a dancer to “touch and engage” with sex workers isn’t free speech. 
 

I used to like Lizzo and went to the About Damn Time tour and had a good time. 
 

Let me exercise my ACTUAL free speech and say Lizzo is TRASH because of this! I’m all for expression and sexual freedom…as long as you are an adult and have CONSENT! Lizzo fell off and now she is flopping and deserves it. Garbage!

[Morphine Prince 105,077]

She’s disgusting and always has been. 

[vanna shintuyu 10,548]

That Ziwe interview was already weird and now this... girl.

[OliviaRodrigoStan 6,349]

This is so delusional . Literally none of the claims have anything to do with "silencing" her, or preventing her from being positive about body diversity, WTF is she talking about . 

Now, I DON'T think Lizzo is a predator, and I DON'T think her alleged misconduct had the intent of "seducing" or coercing others, I do not believe that was her intention. But I do believe the dancers, everything they described sounded like things she would do, and I do believe it made them uncomfortable and created a toxic work environment. 

Lizzo probably thought in her mind that she was just being a baddie, a party girl, when in reality she was just being inapprpriate and delulu . I don't think it makes her a predator, but it is a conduct she should rectify and learn from. 

She could've just admitted that she overstepped certain boundaries, apologize, give the dancers some coin, learn from her mistakes, and move on. But instead she's chosing to present herself as a martyr, and claim that she's being targetted for being black and fat, like, gurl, what? . Because she did the same a while ago, when she was ranting about all these legends like Janet, basically compairing herself to them, and how the media unfairly maligned them, etc. 

No girl, you're not like Janet, and your situation is not the same, not even close . I wanted to root for her, but she's making it hard with these ridiculous claims . 

Gurl, you were cringe and made others around you uncomfortable, that's literally it, your weight has nothing to do with it, take accountability and move on 

[bionic 48,839]

It was an attack on Lizzo, on the Constitution, and on the United States. TBH the dancers should be imprison for treason!!! Someone should @ Trump about this

[RaveMonster 62]

Does she even know what free speech is in the constitution? I’m surprised she was the one who called out that one gay on TikTok when she’s just as uneducated as he was.

[Helix 1,474]

Lizzo about to go down the alt right pipeline I see 

[Ilia Malinin 1,539]

so i am confusion

is she claiming it's a violation of free speech just to get the lawsuit dropped or is she really just this delusional?

[Togekiss 2,507]

This is INSANE.

Imagine your boss arguing that their sexual harassment was “necessary team building” like WTF

[Ziggy 11,571]

God she’s such an @$$hole. Like no one of sound judgment could have recommended she do this bc it draws attention to it again but instead of letting it go and trying to salvage her image she does this to be all “reclaiming her time” about it. No one and j mean no one is giving you kudos, girl.

Edited Wednesday at 12:21 AM by Ziggy

[27monster27 12,738]

46 minutes ago, OliviaRodrigoStan said:

This is so delusional . Literally none of the claims have anything to do with "silencing" her, or preventing her from being positive about body diversity, WTF is she talking about . 

Now, I DON'T think Lizzo is a predator, and I DON'T think her alleged misconduct had the intent of "seducing" or coercing others, I do not believe that was her intention. But I do believe the dancers, everything they described sounded like things she would do, and I do believe it made them uncomfortable and created a toxic work environment. 

Lizzo probably thought in her mind that she was just being a baddie, a party girl, when in reality she was just being inapprpriate and delulu . I don't think it makes her a predator, but it is a conduct she should rectify and learn from. 

She could've just admitted that she overstepped certain boundaries, apologize, give the dancers some coin, learn from her mistakes, and move on. But instead she's chosing to present herself as a martyr, and claim that she's being targetted for being black and fat, like, gurl, what? . Because she did the same a while ago, when she was ranting about all these legends like Janet, basically compairing herself to them, and how the media unfairly maligned them, etc. 

No girl, you're not like Janet, and your situation is not the same, not even close . I wanted to root for her, but she's making it hard with these ridiculous claims . 

Gurl, you were cringe and made others around you uncomfortable, that's literally it, your weight has nothing to do with it, take accountability and move on 

I agree with this. This controversy was pretty avoidable. The way she is responding now in 2025 sounds like something a MAGA politician would say.

[Lil1th 410]

Girl, people forgot about all that, why would you do this? It actually makes you look guilty.