Arianna Davis, Lizzo's former dancer, shares why she and others felt unsafe working for the star they once admired

• Three of Lizzo's former dancers are suing the star over what they allege was a toxic workplace.
• They told Insider they were disappointed after working with the pop star they had admired.
• "It is sort of a 'never meet you heroes' thing," one dancer told Insider.

For Arianna Davis and Crystal Williams, working as Lizzo's dancers after auditioning on her reality show "Watch Out for the Big Grrrls" was — at first — like a dream come true. 

Even Noelle Rodriguez, who had already danced for stars like Beyonce and Meagan thee Stallion, had long admired Lizzo's stance on body positivity and was excited to work with her.

The three women now say that the "Juice" artist was nothing like they imagined.

"It is sort of a 'never meet you heroes' thing, but it's so much more personal than that for me," Davis told Insider Tuesday.

They are now accusing her in a lawsuit of a slew of workplace abuses, including sexual and racial harassment, fat shaming, and — in one case — false imprisonment.

Davis, Williams, and Rodriguez filed the lawsuit against Lizzo, her production company Big Grrrl Big Touring Inc, and Lizzo's dance captain Shirlene Quigley in California superior court on Tuesday.

In it, they allege that Lizzo and her team treated Black dancers with less respect than others, that she pressured them into going to a nude club and behaving inappropriately, and that she falsely imprisoned Davis on the day she was fired.

All three women told Insider Tuesday that they never imagined their relationship with the artist to end how it did.

A representative for Lizzo and a lawyer for the pop star didn't immediately return Insider's request for comment.

Davis and Williams met Lizzo on 'Watch Out for the Big Grrrls'

Davis and Williams met Lizzo in the summer of 2021 when they auditioned for her reality show.  

"It was absolutely a dream come true," Williams told Insider, of being selected for the dance team. "That was something I was actively pursuing. I was extremely excited."

Their first encounter with Lizzo was in front of cameras and producers, Williams said, adding she was thrilled when she was immediately sent to audition with Lizzo's other dancers the next day.

"Honestly it was everything. It exceeded my expectations," she said. "It was very lively, happy, and joyful."

Davis, too, was thrilled by her first meeting with the singer but said that when the "cameras went away" she was a different person.

"Whenever she would come into the house, there was an air of maybe she's a little bit of a diva," Davis said, but she always tried to give her the benefit of the doubt, understanding that Lizzo had a lot going on, too.

"I came into this being on her side," she said.

As time went on, though, the culture changed. 

The three women say they were not part of Lizzo's core dance group and she hardly spoke with them, outside of a few events they felt like they were required to attend — one of them at a nude bar in Amsterdam, where Davis says she felt pressured by Lizzo to touch the breasts of a performer, even though she said she didn't want to.

Davis told Insider that lines were blurred between professionalism and friendship, and the women felt like they had to go to events or do things they were uncomfortable with for job security. 

Lizzo told the dancers she wanted the team to be like a family, Davis said.

"It was a very blurry line, especially since we were on the show," Davis said about her and Williams.

All contestants on the show had to fill out detailed paperwork that divulged all their "struggles, trials, and tribulations," Davis said.

"To turn around and make it seem like it's not supposed to be personal, it was hard to figure out," she said.

According to the lawsuit, in April 2023, Lizzo held a meeting to address what she saw as unprofessional behavior by the dancers, and then held a 12-hour rehearsal, called a "re-audition."

Davis says during the rehearsal, she had to use the bathroom, but there was so much pressure to perform and she felt she couldn't leave the stage for a break, fearing she'd be fired.

Eventually, Davis lost control of her bladder, according to the lawsuit.

Davis "remained on stage, dancing in soiled clothes until there was a brief segment where the dance cast was not part of the onstage performance and were allowed a short break," the lawsuit says.

The women told Insider they believe they were mistreated by Lizzo and her team because they had been outspoken and asked for changes to their pay or retainer to management, and that management then misrepresented their requests to Lizzo. 

By the end of April, after two meetings where dancers were made to believe their jobs were at risk, Lizzo's management team fired Williams in the lobby of a hotel in New Orleans.

Williams told Insider she was shocked and tried to talk to Lizzo directly, but wasn't allowed.

About a week later, in Montreal, Lizzo held an unplanned meeting with the other dancers, during which she publicly berated Davis, calling her names, and eventually firing her, the women said.

That's when Rodriguez, who had already planned to resign but was waiting to get back to the US, decided to immediately quit. 

"She kind of just degraded me in front of everyone, verbally attacking us," Davis said. "She allowed dance captain to verbally attack us." 

In the lawsuit, the women said Lizzo started cracking her knuckles and balling up her fists, leading Rodriguez to believe that Lizzo was about to hit her.

"At that point, I was just concerned by my safety," Rodriguez said. "We didn't feel safe and we were scared, all of the dancers in the room were crying." 

The women said their interactions with Lizzo were disappointing, considering how she represents herself to the public.

Davis said she felt Lizzo stopped wanting her to perform after she gained weight.

"I look a lot different now. I gained a lot of weight," she said. "I always felt Lizzo was concerned about my weight gain." 

At the South by Southwest festival, for example — the first time the team had seen her since her weight gain — Lizzo told her she was worried about her, Davis said. 

"Nothing else about me was different about me," she said.

Davis also alleged that on another occasion, when telling her dancers how grateful they should be working for her, Lizzo told her staff that dancers "get fired every day" for gaining weight.

Davis said she believed the comment was intended for her.

"Weight gain is usually attributed to laziness or something being wrong," Davis said. "I personally feel like I've improved as a dancer." 

Rodriguez, too, said she was disappointed in the behavior. 

"Everything she stands for, she's the complete opposite of that," she said. "I wanted to believe in her."