Lizzo wants to put a spotlight on the harm caused by supposed false allegations.
In a post shared to her Substack on Saturday (Dec. 20), the “About Damn Time” singer reflected on what she described as the broader harm others endure when they watch "false allegations" of sexual assault make headlines.
"Who's gonna write the op-ed on the harm false allegations cause?” she wrote. “I'm not talking about the harm caused to the person falsely accused. I'm talking about the harm caused to the people watching it play out publicly who have experienced true traumatic crimes."
Explaining further, Lizzo wrote that "real victims of sexual assault, rape, sexual harassment and the millions of people who've been subjected to violence” end up staying silent “because no one believes them."
“Or the people who have been harmed by someone who isn’t rich or famous, so pro-bono lawyers incentivized by large settlements won’t take their case? They have to keep living their lives while they watch the world make light of the exact kind of trauma they’ve endured. I think about these people often,” she continued.
The singer also likened comment sections to “battlegrounds saturated with hearsay,” making it “harder to believe on both sides.”
“Cases like these are big business so expecting change from that well oiled machine is like pushing a boulder up a hill. Yes courtroom victories can be significant, but the courtroom that truly matters is the court of public opinion. It’s the sentence that stains you no matter what happens,” she added. “The jury that shames both victims and the accused. How many voices of real victims have been silenced out of fear of backlash from the court of public opinion?”
She continued, “Who’s going to talk about the nuance behind the ‘believe all women movement’? And how it’s been weaponized? Who’s going to talk about how gender, race, and sexuality play a role in how we see real victims?
“The longer we wait to address this issue the longer real victims get marginalized. In a second Trump term where truth has been devalued and distorted, we will be challenged with the task of deciding what is real and what is not real. And I hope, for the sake of people who tell the truth, that we can define it. The falsely accused face great consequences, sometimes more consequences than false accusers face. But no one suffers more from the normalization of false allegations than real victims. When will we clear a path for real victims to be empowered? It’s time to talk about it.”
In August 2023, Lizzo was sued by her former dancers, Arianna Davis, Crystal Williams, and Noelle Rodriguez, who alleged in a lawsuit that the singer and her team made them endure sexual, religious, and racial harassment; disability discrimination; assault and false imprisonment; and more. The dancers also accused Lizzo of “fat-shaming” them, a claim that was recently dropped.
Days before her Substack post, Lizzo publicly commented on the dropped claim with a video shared to her social media account.
"The fat-shaming claims against me have been officially dropped by my accusers," Lizzo wrote. "They conceded it had no merit in court. There was no evidence that I fired them because they gained weight. Because it never happened. Now the truth is finally out. They weren't fired for gaining weight. They were fired for taking a private recording of me without my consent and sending it off to ex-employees."
She continued, “I have never fired an employee for gaining weight. I have only encouraged and supported people with bigger bodies and shared my platform with them. This claim has haunted me since the day it came out. It has been devastating to suffer through this in silence but I let my lawyers lead and I'm so grateful for this victory. I am still in a legal battle. I am not settling. I will be fighting every single claim until the truth is out.”
Following Lizzo’s video, Ron Zambrano, the attorney for the three former dancers Arianna Davis, Noelle Rodriguez, and Crystal Williams, cautioned her against celebrating prematurely.
“Lizzo’s apparent victory lap is a bit premature. Seven claims, including assault, false imprisonment, and sexual harassment, are waiting for Lizzo and her team at the end of the appellate process,” he said. “Her recent comments are littered with convenient inaccuracies.
“Stunningly, Lizzo's legal position is that fat shaming is OK because it's an exercise of her free speech. Ms. Williams was initially fired for standing up for what was right. Additionally, Ms. Davis was fired for recording a conversation because she bravely admitted to doing so despite the consequences. Lizzo could learn from Ms. Davis' integrity. Ms. Rodriguez resigned after watching Lizzo try to assault her, all while Lizzo caused the entire dance team to be falsely imprisoned because the defendant apparently can't fathom being put in a light not curated by her or her team.”