Lizzo’s Ex-Documentary Director Slams Her as ‘Narcissistic Bully’
Lizzo, the pop star known for her body-positive and inclusive messages, is facing a backlash from some of her former collaborators who accuse her of creating a toxic and hostile work environment. The singer is being sued by three of her former dancers who allege that she sexually harassed them, body-shamed them, and subjected them to religious and racial harassment, among other claims. Now, an Oscar-nominated documentarian has come forward to share her own negative experience of working with Lizzo on a documentary project.
Sophia Nahli Allison, who was nominated for an Academy Award for her Netflix short film A Love Song for Latasha, said she quit working on a Lizzo documentary in 2019 after being “treated with such disrespect” by the singer. Allison posted a message on her Instagram stories and Twitter account on Tuesday, saying that she witnessed Lizzo’s “arrogant, self-centered, and unkind” behavior and felt “gaslit and deeply hurt” by her.
“I usually do not comment on anything pop culture related,” Allison wrote over an image of herself at work. “But, In 2019, I traveled a bit with Lizzo to be the director of her documentary. I walked away after about 2 weeks. I was treated with such disrespect by her. I witnessed how arrogant, self-centered, and unkind she is.”
Allison said she was not protected and received little support from those around her. “My spirit said to run as fast as you fucking can and I’m so grateful I trusted my gut,” she wrote. “I felt gaslit and was deeply hurt, but I’ve healed. Reading these reports made me realize how dangerous of a situation it was. This kind of abuse of power happens far too often.”
Allison also expressed solidarity with the dancers who filed the lawsuit against Lizzo on Tuesday. The lawsuit, obtained by NBC News, accuses Lizzo of pressuring one of the dancers to touch a naked performer at a club in Amsterdam and subjecting them to “excruciating” auditions. It also says that Lizzo expressed “thinly veiled” concerns about one of the plaintiff’s “weight gain” before firing her.
“The stunning nature of how Lizzo and her management team treated their performers seems to go against everything Lizzo stands for publicly, while privately she weight-shames her dancers and demeans them in ways that are not only illegal but absolutely demoralizing,” said Ron Zambrano, the attorney for the dancers, in a statement.
The lawsuit also alleges that Lizzo’s dance captain, Shirlene Quigley, tried to convert the dancers to Christianity and simulated oral sex in front of them. Quigley shared a video on her Instagram on Tuesday in which she stated that she had a great time on tour with Lizzo and repeatedly praised God.
“I just wanted to get on here really quick and say God is so, so good!” Quigley said.
Lizzo has not publicly responded to the allegations or the lawsuit. The singer has been praised for her empowering songs and advocacy for self-love and acceptance. She has also been the subject of two documentaries in 2022: Love, Lizzo, directed by Doug Pray, and Lizzo: Blame It on My Juice, directed by Roxane Schlumberger. It is unclear whether Allison was the original director on one of these projects or whether she was filming a different one.
Allison said she wanted to speak out because “validating other Black women’s experiences is deeply important” to her. She also claimed that Lizzo is a “narcissistic bully” who has built her brand off of lies.
“Lizzo creates an extremely toxic and hostile working environment and undermines the work, labor, and authority of other Black and brown womxn in the process,” Allison wrote in a follow-up post on Wednesday. “She is a narcissistic bully and has built her brand off of lies. I was excited to support and protect a Black woman through the documentary process but quickly learned her image and ‘message’ was a curated façade.”
Allison said she has found support from others who have shared their similar experiences with Lizzo privately or publicly. One of them is Courtney Hollinquest, another former dancer who backed up the lawsuit on her Instagram story.
“I’m not apart [sic] of the lawsuit — but this was very much my experience in my time there… I very much applaud the dancers courage to bring this to light,” Hollinquest wrote.
Relevant articles:
- Lizzo Documentary Filmmaker Claims She Left Due to Disrespect — IndieWire, IndieWire, 8/2/2023
- Lizzo’s Former Documentary Director Makes New Allegations Amid Lawsuit, ET Online, 8/2/2023
- Lizzo’s former documentary director slams singer as ‘narcissistic bully’ amid lawsuit, USA Today, 8/3/2023
- Filmmaker says she ‘walked away’ from Lizzo’s documentary because the singer was ‘arrogant, self-centered, and unkind’, Yahoo News, 8/2/2023
Originally published at https://trendydigests.com on August 3, 2023.
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