Lizzo recently addressed the sexual harassment lawsuit filed against her by three former dancers, shedding light on an alleged incident that took place at a club called Bananenbar in Amsterdam. The Grammy Award-winning artist, 36, opened up about the night in question during an appearance on the Baby, This Is Keke Palmer podcast on Thursday, Dec. 19, for the first time.
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Lizzo details the happenings of the night
She told the host of the show that she visited the bar which features “exotic performers” alone. During the conversation, Lizzo revealed that one of her dancers, whom she described as a close “friend,” was at a birthday dinner for one of the background singers. She shared that the dancer had asked her what she was planning to do next, since, according to her, they allegedly had “nowhere to go.” Thus, she said, “I was like, ‘What? It’s your birthday. You in Amsterdam. You got nowhere to go, come through’”.
Lizzo claimed that she was not aware who was going to show up after her invitation. She said, “They were like, 17 of us wanna come. I was like, ‘Oh, OK. Pull up.’ That’s my nature,” as reported by People.
The Juice singer added, “Everybody came through. We had a great time. There were moments because the performer is very consensual, but she’s also performing. So she’ll ask you. She’ll be like, ‘Would you like to do this? Would you like to do that?’ If you say ‘Yes,’ you do it. If you say ‘No,’ she’s like, ‘OK.’ Moves on.”
The singer revealed that the dynamic “was happening all night.” She added, “There were moments where there was some wild stuff that happened, but everybody had a great time.”
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Lizzo emphasises everything was ‘consensual’
Lizzo confirmed that there was “no mandatory invitation” in place to attend and only two of the three dancers mentioned in the lawsuit were present at the club. She said, “I have to stress how consensual it was because this bar has been like this since 1945. If they were doing things non-consensually, they would have been sued.”
However, the attorney representing plaintiffs– Crystal Williams, Arianna Davis and Noella Rodriguez in the lawsuit, Rom Zambrano told People, “There is an utter lack of awareness by Lizzo failing to see how these young women on her team who are just starting their careers would feel pressured to accept an invitation from their global celebrity boss who rarely hangs out with them. There is a power dynamic in the boss-employee context that Lizzo utterly fails to appreciate,” in a statement on Thursday.
He added, “We stand by the claims in the lawsuit and are prepared to prove everything in court with Lizzo on the stand under oath before a jury of her peers, not spouting nonsense and lies rationalizing a failure to take accountability on a podcast.”
The sexual harassment lawsuit filed against Lizzo by three former dancers includes a range of serious allegations, including sexual, religious, and racial harassment, disability discrimination, assault, and false imprisonment. The full complaint accuses the Grammy-winning artist of creating a hostile work environment. However, she firmly denied all of the claims made against her.
