Lizzo attends the 2019 American Music Awards at Microsoft Theater on November 24, 2019 in Los Angeles. Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images for dcp
Update: Stefan Friedman, spokesman for Lizzo, shared a response in a statement to Billboard, writing, “With nearly half his case dismissed, 18 independent witnesses siding with Lizzo and no settlement on the way to get him his tasty contingency fee, Ron has started making wild personal attacks that have absolutely nothing to do with the clients who he is supposedly representing. We would humbly recommend that Ron start representing his clients and stop representing just himself.”
Just days after Lizzo shared an emotional “I quit” statement to Instagram, Los Angeles-based attorney Ron Zambrano, who is representing the dancers that are suing the “About Damn Time” singer for harassment, has shared a scolding statement in response.
“It’s a joke that Lizzo would say she is being bullied by the internet when she should instead be taking an honest look at herself,” he wrote in the statement obtained by Billboard. “Her latest post is just another outburst seeking attention and trying to deflect from her own failings as she continues to blame everyone else for the predicament she is in. Lizzo’s legal and public relations strategy is a failure, so she is desperately trying to play the victim. She has thrown these childish tantrums before. No one actually believes she is quitting music. But she should quit sexually harassing, shaming and bullying her employees and finally accept responsibility for her actions.”
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Zambrano’s statement continued, “She can make all of this go away simply by seizing the opportunity here to set an example, own up to her mistakes, pay what’s due to those she’s wronged and work on becoming a better person. Celebrity toxicity is poisoning the entertainment industry with Diddy and Dan Schneider being the latest examples, and Lizzo’s conduct will not be tolerated, either. There is no more safe place in society for this sort of behavior as the entire industry is in for a reckoning for permitting such vile treatment of employees in the workplace.”
Billboard has reached out for Lizzo’s team for a response to Zambrano’s statement.
On Friday afternoon (March 29), Lizzo took to Instagram to express frustration over public criticism toward her. “I’m getting tired of putting up with being dragged by everyone in my life and on the Internet,” she wrote against an orange and yellow background. “All I want is to make music and make people happy and help the world be a little better than how I found it. But I’m starting to feel like the world doesn’t want me in it.”
The singer continued, She continued, “I’m constantly up against lies being told about me for clout & views… being the butt of the joke every single time because of how I look… my character being picked apart by people who don’t know me and disrespecting my name. I didn’t sign up for this s— — I QUIT [peace out emoji].”
Lizzo has been under scrutiny over the past year, as she’s been involved in a harassment lawsuit brought by three of the “Special” singer’s former dancers in August 2023. The lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles by dancers Arianna Davis, Crystal Williams and Noelle Rodriguez, accuses Lizzo (real name Melissa Jefferson) and her Big Grrrl Big Touring Inc. of a wide range of legal wrongdoing and included dozens of pages of detailed allegations. Lizzo denied the claims in a response shared to Twitter, calling them “false allegations” and “sensationalized stories.”
