According to billboard.com, on February 2, a Los Angeles judge denied Lizzo’s motion to dismiss the alleged sexual harassment lawsuit that was allegedly filed by three of her former backup dancers. The judge did dismiss certain accusations, but the judge allowed the case to move forward.
Facing allegations of alleged harassment and alleged discrimination, Lizzo argued this past year that case should be dismissed under California’s anti-SLAPP statute, which is special law that makes it easier to quickly end meritless lawsuits that threaten free speech. The artist‘s lawyers argued that the accusers were allegedly using the lawsuit to ‘silence’ Lizzo.
In a detailed, Judge Mark H. Epstein ruled that the anti-SLAPP statute did not fit all of the lawsuit’s allegations. The judge also tossed out some claims including an alleged charge that Lizzo allegedly fat-shamed one of her dancers, but the judge ruled a remainder that the case could go forward.
The case against Lizzo was filed this past August by dancers Arianna Davis, Crystal Williams and Noelle Rodriguez. The women accuses the singer and her Big Grrrl Big Touring Inc. of allegedly creating a hostile work environment through a wide range of legal wrongdoing, including not just alleged sexual harassment but also alleged religious and alleged racial discrimination. The alleged weight-shaming, the lawsuit claims, amounted to a form of alleged disability discrimination.