Defiant Lizzo claims she did 'nothing wrong' amid sexual harassment lawsuits

Lizzo has broken her silence on sexual harassment cases filed against her last year by three of her former dancers and her ex-stylist.

The singer, 36, was sued by Asha Daniels in September 2023 who alleged a 'sexualized, racially charged, and illegal work environment' while working for the star's Big Grrrl Big Tour company. 

The harassment and discrimination lawsuit was tossed out of a California court earlier this month.

The singer was met with another lawsuit in August 2023 by three of her former backup dancers that accused her of sexual harassment, fat shaming and a hostile work environment.

The defiant star called the case dismissal a 'big victory' in a chat on the Baby, This Is Keke Palmer podcast and said she had done 'nothing wrong.'

'We’re continuing to fight the other claims until they’re all dismissed — not dropped, but dismissed.

Discussing her turbulent few few months after wrapping her first arena tour in 2023, she said: 'I was literally living in my dream, and then the tour ended, and three ex-dancers just completely, like, blindsided me with a lawsuit.'

'I was very deeply hurt because these were three ex-dancers, so they weren't on the tour. They didn't, like, finish the tour out with us. But even regardless of that, these were people that I gave opportunities to.

'These were people that — I liked them and appreciated them as dancers, respected them as dancers. So I was like, what? But then I heard all the other things like sexual harassment, and I was like, they're trying well, I don't know what they're trying to do, but these are the types of things that the media can turn into something that it's not.

'Let's be clear, I did nothing wrong.'

Among the shock claims from her dancers were that she went to an Amsterdam strip club with them and allegedly encouraged 'catching dildos launched from the performers' vaginas, and eating bananas protruding from the performers' vaginas.'

Lizzo denied this claim and said: 'I went [to Bananenbar] on my own because I was in Amsterdam… I didn’t take [the dancers] anywhere. They came to the club I was at, and it was no mandatory invitation, and I didn’t even know that those two particular dancers were coming. 

'Mind you, only two of them came, even though all three of them said they did, it was only two.'

She added it was a 'very consensual' experience.' 

Lizzo said she had now been 'dismissed' from the Daniels lawsuit adding: 'A judge saw this, and in the court of law, he looked at the evidence and said, 'OK. We can't allow this to go through.'

However Daniels' lawyer Ronald Zambrano told People: 'The lawsuit is still very active and has not been dismissed. The ruling was not for lack of evidence, but rather on procedural jurisdictional grounds. It by no means absolves Lizzo of the egregious claims that occurred on her watch.

'All individually named defendants were dismissed because of the jurisdictional limits of Title VII and FLSA claims that no individual can be liable for those claims. Ergo, no individuals, be it Lizzo or the person sweeping the floor behind her, can be a defendant under the FLSA or Title VII. This is the reason Lizzo and her tour manager were dismissed from the case.

'It had nothing to do with the merits of the claims. The lawsuit still moves forward against Lizzo’s company, Big Grrl Touring, as to all claims except for the overtime allegation. The Ninth Cause of Action for Unpaid Overtime was also dismissed for jurisdictional, not evidentiary reasons, given claims for unpaid overtime only apply for work done within the United States. Lizzo and her tour manager will still be deposed in connection with the lawsuit.'

While working for the Truth Hurts hitmaker Daniels also claimed that she had been physically and verbally abused by her manager, Amanda Nomura.

It comes one year after Lizzo requested that the 'salacious' and 'meritless' harassment lawsuit be dropped. 

Judge Fernando L. Aenlle-Rocha dismissed various claims made by Daniels against Lizzo's tour company - which also included allegations of unpaid overtime, per Page Six. 

The judge granted a partial motion to drop some of the claims due to Asha working for Lizzo in Europe, and not in the United States. 

'These allegations do not establish plausibly that any portion of plaintiff’s claim arose from work performed in the United States or qualifying territories,' Aenlle-Rocha stated, according to the outlet. 

The judge added that Lizzo's former wardrobe assistant failed to provide evidence of overtime work during the star's Big Grrrl Big Tour.

A source told The New York Post that the songstress will continue to fight the 'false' allegations against her. 

'There's a reason that Lizzo continues to fight long after most public figures would have settled – because these allegations are false and can't be allowed to stand.' 

'She is not going to stop fighting until every single one of these ridiculous smears is dismissed,' the insider continued. 

While the performer will not be held liable for the harassment accusations, her tour company still faces the lawsuit, TMZ reported on Thursday.  

Late last year in December 2023, Lizzo asked that the harassment and discrimination lawsuit made by her former tour stylist be dismissed.

Her attorneys filed a motion to dismiss the suit from stylist and clothing designer Asha Daniels - calling her a 'disgruntled' employee. 

The singer's legal team made the request, writing that the lawsuit is 'meritless and salacious' as per court documents obtained by People.  

Her attorney alleged that Daniels 'failed to perform the work that she was assigned and, eventually, just played hooky and refused to show up for work.' 

The documents stated that Asha was let go after 'abandoning her post' during Lizzo's concert in Paris, France.

The attorneys cited two reasons for the dismissal: it was filed in the wrong location, and Daniels 'is a New York resident who worked for a Delaware corporation in Europe' and thus the designer 'has alleged no nexus to California.'

In September of last year, Asha opened up about the singer's alleged 'sexualized, racially charged, and illegal work environment' - claiming that she was 'physically assaulted,' 'threatened,' and told she wasn't allowed to eat by her manager. 

Daniels filed a lawsuit against Lizzo, alleging that she was physically and verbally abused by her manager, Amanda Nomura, while working for Lizzo - one month after three backup dancers for the hitmaker made a series of shocking allegations against her. 

Asha spoke out about some of the horrible things that she says she endured during her time as one of Lizzo's employees during an interview with ABC News for an episode of the show Impact x Nightline. 

She alleged that Amanda not only said horrible things about her, but about the Good as Hell songstress as well.

'Amanda would regularly mock both Lizzo and the big girls. She would refer to them as "fat," just a bevy of really inappropriate things like, "Useless, lazy,"' she continued.

Asha said she was hired to design outfits for Lizzo and her dancers on her The Special Tour earlier this year, but claimed she was 'wrongfully terminated' just two weeks in.

At the time Lizzo's spokesperson denied Asha's claims, pointing out that she 'never actually met or even spoke to' the star.

She sued for sexual and racial harassment, in addition to disability discrimination. She also asked for damages which include unpaid wages, loss of earnings, and others.

The allegations were parallel to the claims of three backup dancers who sued Lizzo a month prior to Asha, for sexual and racial harassment.

Crystal Williams, Noelle Rodriguez, and Arianna Davis claimed they were forced to attend degrading sex shows and were subjected to other uncomfortable situations while working for the star.

Earlier this year in February, Lizzo's request to have the sexual harassment case against her dismissed was notably denied by a judge at the L.A. Country Superior Court. 

At the time, the attorney for the dancers Ron Zambrano, said in a statement to People, 'We're very pleased with the judge's ruling, and we absolutely consider it a victory on balance.' 

Some claims were previously dismissed, such as Davis' fat-shaming allegations and dancers forced to be on 'hold' despite not being on tour. 

But the attorney added, ''All the other claims remain, including sexual, religious and racial discrimination, sexual harassment, the demeaning visits to the Bananenbar in Amsterdam and Crazy Horse in Paris, false imprisonment, and assault.'

'The ruling also rightfully signals that Lizzo - or any celebrity - is not insulated from this sort of reprehensible conduct merely because she is famous. We now look forward to conducting discovery and preparing the case for trial.' 

Despite the ongoing legal battles, Lizzo has been active on social media to show off her dramatic weight loss amid Ozempic rumors. 

And back in April, the star clarified that she would not be quitting the music industry despite announcing her shock departure just one month earlier.