Unless you’ve been offline all day, you probably know by now that the internet is poised to cancel Lizzo over allegations made by ex-dancers. Despite Lizzo’s advocacy for body positivity, three of her former dancers have accused her of sexual harassment and body shaming, according to a lawsuit filed today.
In the filing, dancers Arianna Davis, Crystal Williams, and Noelle Rodriguez allege that Lizzo made deriding comments about her dancers’ weight and shape, in addition to creating a climate of sexual exploitation and abusive behavior. The lawsuit specifies a trip to an Amsterdam strip club where Lizzo allegedly invited her dancers to touch the performers and simulate oral sex with them. Allegations also suggest Lizzo’s dance captain, Shirlene Quigley, acted in an inappropriate manner.
While Lizzo has not yet responded to the claims, the internet is exhibiting its typical behavior of either taking the allegations as 100 percent truthful or admonishing those willing to judge without waiting for Lizzo’s side of the story. Some examples follow:
Those who believe the allegations are pointing to the pop star’s questionable past behavior, such as her endorsement of abuser Chris Brown and her continuous lusting after Chris Evans a few years back:
Despite that the folks on Twitter seem to be gathering into two hard-lining factions, there’s actually a third strategy here: You can just not have an opinion.
And we don’t mean you should join the camp arguing that everyone should wait until Lizzo responds. You can just…not worry about it. Think of it this way: Someone filed a lawsuit with a bunch of claims that can’t be verified or denied without the involvement of those present at the time. So, if you’re not directly involved, you could just not come to a conclusion.
In fact, you don’t even need to be on social media. After you’re finished with this article, you can go outside, where there are bugs and rainbows and even some lawsuits that you can file yourself if the spirit moves you.
For once, let’s allow a controversy to move through its proper litigation channels without a Greek chorus.