KIRO NEWSRADIO OPINION

Gee on Lizzo facing sexual harassment lawsuit: ‘I didn’t want to believe it’

Aug 3, 2023, 1:36 PM | Updated: 2:00 pm

A civil lawsuit filed Tuesday in Los Angeles County Superior Court claimed Lizzo pressured the dancers to engage with nude performers at a club in Amsterdam and shamed one of them for her weight gain before firing her.

KIRO Newsradio host Gee Scott stated his initial reaction was how quick people trust and believe celebrities in power after news broke that pop star Lizzo’s backup dancers are suing her for sexual harassment and weight shaming.

More from Gee Scott: ‘We need more police’ in Seattle’s Rainier Valley

“I am not here to be looked at as a victim, but I also know that I am not the villain that people and the media have portrayed me to be these last few days,” Lizzo said in a statement posted on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. “I am very open with my sexuality and expressing myself but I cannot accept or allow people to use that openness to make me out to be something I am not.”

Lizzo, who routinely champions body positivity, is also accused of calling out Arianna Davis, one of her backup dancers who came forward with claims against Lizzo, for her weight gain after accusing the dancer of not being committed to her role. Davis was fired in May for recording a meeting during which Lizzo had given out notes to dancers about their performances, according to the complaint.

“As soon as I heard the Lizzo story, I said, ‘Oh, I don’t believe this’, and then I said, ‘Wait, why did I say, I don’t believe this,'” Gee said. “Because Lizzo has had this brand and has been fighting against people that are fat shaming, and she has this image of being ridiculed for her weight. I like Lizzo. I like her music. I have all these positive associations with her. But once I started looking into it, I believe those employees.”

Listen to Seattle’s Morning News with Dave Ross and Colleen O’Brien weekday mornings from 5 – 9 a.m. on KIRO Newsradio, 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here.

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Gee on Lizzo facing sexual harassment lawsuit: ‘I didn’t want to believe it’