Filmmaker says she 'walked away' from Lizzo's documentary because the singer was 'arrogant, self-centered, and unkind'
Getty/Matt Jelone
- A filmmaker said she walked away from directing Lizzo's documentary because the singer treated her with "disrespect."
- Sophia Nahli Allison branded Lizzo "arrogant, self-centered, and unkind" in a statement Tuesday.
- Three of Lizzo's former dancers filed a lawsuit against the pop star, alleging they were body-shamed and sexually harassed.
A filmmaker claimed she "walked away" from directing a documentary on Lizzo because of how she says she was treated by the singer.
Sophia Nahli Allison, an Oscar-nominated filmmaker from Los Angeles, said in a statement shared on Twitter Tuesday that she felt Lizzo demonstrated an "abuse of power" during their brief time together.
Allison's claims come after three of Lizzo's former dancers filed a lawsuit against the pop star, accusing her of body-shaming them and sexual harassment.
Lizzo hasn't responded publicly, either to the dancers' lawsuit or to Allison. Her representatives did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.
"In 2019, I traveled a bit with Lizzo to be the director of her documentary. I walked away after 2 weeks. I was treated with such disrespect by her," Allison wrote.
"I witnessed how arrogant, self-centered, and unkind she is," she said. "I was not protected and thrown into a shitty situation with little support. My spirit said to run as fast as you fucking can and I'm so grateful I trusted my gut."
Allison added that she felt "gaslit" and "deeply hurt" by Lizzo, however, she did not give any specifics of what happened between her and the star.
Referring to the lawsuit filed against the singer, she wrote: "Reading these reports made me realize how dangerous of a situation it was."
—Sophia Nahli Allison (@SophiaNAllison) August 1, 2023
Dancers Arianna Davis, Crystal Williams, and Noelle Rodriguez filed a lawsuit against Lizzo, her production company Big Grrrl Big Touring Inc, and a member of Lizzo's dance team in Los Angeles County Superior Court on Tuesday.
In the suit, the dancers allege that after getting hired onto Lizzo's dance team, the singer sexually harassed them during a night out at a nude club in Amsterdam.
The lawsuit alleges that while at the club, Lizzo "began inviting cast members to take turns touching the nude performers, catching dildos launched from the performers' vaginas, and eating bananas protruding from the performers' vaginas."
The suit also alleges that at one point in the night, Lizzo started a group chant calling out Davis and "pressuring" her to touch the breasts of one of the performers, even after Davis declined multiple times.
Speaking to Insider on Tuesday, Rodriguez said of Lizzo: "Everything she stands for, she's the complete opposite of that."