August 4, 2023 • 33 mins
After an EXPLOSIVE week of seriously disparaging claims made by former employees, Lizzo speaks in an attempt to clarify claims of abuse and to try to preserve her reputation/legacy.
But is it demasiado tarde for that?
Como se dice la gente: “there’s three sides too every story.” Let’s break down the allegations, accusations and possible legal ramifications!!
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:03):
I'm Honey Germy. My parents are Dominican. I was born
and raised in New York City. I love sneakers and
I'm a body positive advocate.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
I'm Carolina Bermudez soy Nikaa wins it. But I was
born and raised in Ohio. I'm a wife, a mama,
and a worker bee. This is life in Spanglish. You
know the episode's gonna be good when we begin with girl.
Oh my gosh, wow, this is explosive. I can't believe
what is going on, and we must discuss the big
(00:32):
Lizzo news that's been breaking over the past couple of
days because there's just so much going on that I
can hardly wrap my mind around it.
Speaker 1 (00:40):
The same here is like every time I turn around,
it's like a different angle with this Lizzo story.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
Definitely, So yeah, that is what we were discussing today
in Life in Spanglish. Now, I will say I have
been very surprised, just like Honey has, because it's like
when these I guess allegations came out, well, I was
I was like, wait, really like Lizo, because I mean,
when you hear all of the things that we break
it down for you, it may come as a surprise
(01:08):
to you too. But now that more details are coming
out and more people are talking about, you know, her
personality and what Lizo was like to work with, and
you know, I don't know. I'm just I'm really really
trying to just like break it all down. But this
information is coming fast and furious. And it's funny because
one of my friends that I was talking to about
(01:28):
it said, you know what, they build you up and
then they take you down, because you know, Lizo has
been trying to make it in this industry now for
I mean obviously over a decade, and she's worked her
tail off and it seems like she was everywhere these
past couple of years.
Speaker 1 (01:44):
And she's managed to do something that's super commendable and
it exists in a black space, a white space in
R and B, hip hop and pop. Like what she's
done here, not only as a woman of color, but
as a plus woman. I've always been a fan Carolina
just on the strength of that.
Speaker 2 (02:04):
Well, she's talented, that's no doubt.
Speaker 1 (02:06):
Right, And here we are now trying to tear down Lizzo.
Speaker 2 (02:13):
You know. And here's the thing. These are allegations and
so we are not speaking with authority on any of this,
because you know clearly this is just a story that's
breaking now. I was so shocked to wake up this morning.
The first thing that showed up on my Instagram was
her statement today. So three of Lizzo's former dancers have
filed a lawsuit against her, her production company, and the
(02:35):
dance captain that she hired, shir Lean Quickly. So this
is basically what the whole lawsuit is about. These dancers
are alleging sexual, religious and racial harassment, disability discrimination, assault,
and false imprisonment. That one was the one that blew
(02:56):
me away. I was like, whoa need to norm know
more about that one?
Speaker 1 (03:00):
This is a lot and I feel like the legal
terms are kind of like dragging it a little bit.
Speaker 2 (03:06):
Yeah, you are a paralegal, honey, and so I feel
like you have like a lot of knowledge on this
and you can really help us understand what's going on
with this whole story.
Speaker 1 (03:14):
No, for sure. And you know we got to get
in the false imprisonment. That's where they caught me out.
I'm like, what do they mean by that? And then
it's like we get into it and it's just like, oh,
fear of losing your job, like not wanting to do
certain things because of retaliation. There's a lot here to unpack. Carolina.
Speaker 2 (03:30):
Ooh yeah, so these dancers are claiming that when they
were on tour with Lizzo, she invited them. This is okay,
by the way, let's just say this. If you're listening
to Life in Spanglish with little kiddos, first of all,
we appreciate it, but the rest of this episode is
going to be not safe for them, so we want
to give you fair warning. We love that you listen,
but this might be the part where either you pause
(03:51):
it and come back and listen later so that the
little ears don't hear what's going on, because it can
get pretty graphic and like not safe for kids, not
safe for work if you're listening to us at work
on a desktop and other people can hear. We just
want to give you fair warning because when we give
you these details, you're going to see why this is
kind of more of an adult conversation.
Speaker 1 (04:11):
You want to start with Bananashow, Is that what it is?
Speaker 2 (04:14):
Well, yeah, I think we should have started there, right, yeah,
because I mean, yeah, this is where I was just like, Okay,
I've been in situations before throughout my professional career where
people have taken me to different places. Look, I mean,
I'll be honest, there are some times where in the
past I've had to go and meet somebody that I
(04:34):
worked with at a strip club to drop something off
for them, you know what I mean. So this is
not unheard of any entertainment industry. I think that there
are a lot of people who have similar stories of
you know, being in different places where perhaps they didn't
think business was going to go down, But this kind
of takes it to a different level. So I've never
(04:55):
been involved in anything like this, and I don't know
how I would have reacted if my b or somebody
who was my superior took me to a place like.
Speaker 1 (05:04):
This and it you know, they're out in Amsterdam. Let's
let's put that out there, which you know has this
red light district. A lot of sexual stuff happens, and
I feel like a lot of people are open to
going to these types of shows. And she probably like, yeah,
we're just hanging out or whatever, but what transpired at
the show is what is the real issue?
Speaker 2 (05:23):
Carolina definitely well. Also, I will clarify I used to
work for a DJ when I was interning one of
my very first internship jobs. And when I tell you
that I had to go to the strip club, it's
that he used to have records, like you know, so
they used to have these crates of records, and he
left one at the station. I had to go to
the station and picking up tickets him at the strip
club where he was DJing. So I don't want anybody
(05:44):
thinking that anything crazy went on, So just to clarify that,
So yeah, the Dancwers claimed that while Lizo invited them
to a nude performance in Amsterdam, they went because they
feared that they would lose their jobs. So while they
were at this show, the lawsuit is claim mean that
Lizzo began leading a camp for one of the girls
in the lawsuit to touch one of the performer's breasts.
(06:07):
So she felt a little bit coerced at that point
because she went on three times and it was loud
enough for everybody to hear, and she expressed to her
in her words that she was good, like she said,
I'm good, and that to her was basically saying I
do not want to touch this performer's breass. But then
she went ahead and did it because she was fearful
(06:29):
that it may harm her future on the team, hence retaliation.
So later that night, the allegations continue and they say
that Lizzo was badgering a member of her security team
to get on stage and then she pulled down his
pants and hit him with whips.
Speaker 1 (06:46):
And Jesus, that is a lot what is happening at
Camp Lizzo.
Speaker 2 (06:50):
I mean, okay, this is like next level while. But
I've never been to Amsterdam. I don't know if you've
ever been to Amsterdam, Honey.
Speaker 1 (06:57):
I have not, but I have friends that have been,
and you know, it's a little while over there, right.
Speaker 2 (07:02):
Like I've heard of people that have gone on vacation
or with other friends and stuff like that, but I've
never been, and I did hear that. You know, things
get a little crazy. So later that night they're saying that,
you know, a number of things also happened. One of
the things was what you mentioned the banana, which I'm
gonna let you take that one.
Speaker 1 (07:21):
Well, it seems though where they went they have this
banana show where people, I guess patrons are encouraged to
eat like a banana out of like the private parts
of some of the performers or after it's been in
there and that exactly. Now, that's some nastiness right there, Carolina.
(07:41):
I'm not with it. I don't care if you my
boss or not. This is the day that we part ways.
I'm not eating no banana out of nobody's coucy. I'm sorry.
Speaker 2 (07:49):
And there's another discussion about Lizzo telling them that they
were going to go to a bar in Paris, but
not revealing to them that it was going to be
a nude cabaret, which I think that that's important to
let people know, like, hey, we're going to go clubbing,
we're gonna go out, it's going to be a wild night,
we're gonna do xyz, so that those people who kind
(08:09):
of that aren't into that stuff can make that decision
for themselves and decide whether or not they want to go.
Speaker 1 (08:14):
There another instance where you could say I'm good and
decide to fall back. But I'm gonna be in my room,
I'm gonna do an iemask, I'm gonna tweeze my chin
hair anything. I don't want to see naked people tonight.
Speaker 2 (08:26):
Well, yeah, and you think about it. If these people
are on the road, they are going out every single
day and not going out like partying. They're performing every
single day. They're in a different town. They have to
keep track of, you know, where they are. Sometimes that
means self care. You know, self care could be exactly
what you said, deciding to stay in bed and saying,
(08:48):
you know what, I'm not about that tonight, I'm gonna
take care of me. I'm going to order room service.
And so they felt pressured that if they didn't go,
that they would that they would get retaliated against, and
that it would be held against them. Now, another thing
that I also read in this lawsuit was that the
dancers were saying that the management team was entirely white,
(09:09):
and that the team was accusing the black members of
the dance team for being lazy and unprofessional and would
say that they had bad attitudes. But you know, again,
I think that this lawsuit is really interesting because it's
kind of like she said, she said, right, like the
when the girls came out and they were alleging all
of these things, we hadn't heard from Lizzo. So they
(09:30):
were giving their side of the story.
Speaker 1 (09:33):
And it's thing had been busy on doing interviews. I
was just watching them, like do an interview on like
CBS or NBC or one of them. They are actually
speaking out.
Speaker 2 (09:41):
Now, definitely, And then there's a big conversation about the
weight shaming, which I actually had to look up weight shaming,
and I didn't understand. But when we come back, I'm
going to break down for you what the girls are
alleging that Lizzo would say to them, or one girl
in particular, and we'll do that after the break. So
(10:06):
when these accusations started coming out and one of the
young ladies was saying that she was weight shamed, I
didn't understand what that meant, you know, because I've heard
of fat shaming, I've heard of body shaming. I've heard
of all these different things, and so I I googled.
I was just like, what is weight shaming? And I
think that it is. There really isn't an explanation for it.
(10:28):
Do you understand what weight shaming is?
Speaker 1 (10:30):
Oh no, that's a fact. My mom did it my
whole life growing up, eat a salad. Weight shaming was
a part of my upbringing. I've lived it. It can
be very traumatizing, have long term, you know, negative effects
on any woman or even boys. People wait shame little
(10:53):
boys too all the time.
Speaker 2 (10:55):
Yeah, well yeah, so then I guess it's more weight
shaming because a lot of people online and you know,
the comment section is crazy right now. Everybody has an opinion,
everybody wants to say what they want to say about this.
But you know, I guess my assumption is that it's
it's the equivalent of body shaming and fat shaming, and
it's it's not even necessarily about a specific number. It's
(11:17):
pointing out that somebody has gained some weight. And so
one of the girls said that she was being weight
shamed by Lizzo and her choreographer and said that Lizzo
came up to her, I guess at one of the
rehearsals and was just like, what's going on with you?
You know, like, what's why are you not as bubbly?
Why you? And she she basically put them under like
(11:38):
a thin veil of concern, But Lizzo had called attention
to it and was kind of calling her out about it.
So that's that one, to me, is just kind of
a little bit I again, we don't know, we weren't there.
It's kind of like a what she said versus what
Lizzo said. And I think that there were people who
were present that can maybe speak to that, but also
(12:00):
there are a number of other people that are coming
out now talking just about Lizzo's attitude and what it's
like to work with her.
Speaker 1 (12:08):
And that I think that's where I was blindsided. I
think more I always, you know, had Lizzo on this
pedestal because of what she had done for body positivity.
I watched the reality show The Watch Out for the
Big Girls where she actually hired two of these dancers
from they had auditioned and they won like a spot
to go on tour with Lizzo, and everything seemed fine.
(12:29):
Like Arianna Davis, She's one of the girls that competed
on the show, And I would have never expected any
of this to come out like I am mind blown
because I really thought Lizzo was different than what these
people are alleging.
Speaker 2 (12:42):
I think everybody did. Yeah, And I never got to
watch the show, so I can't speak on on.
Speaker 1 (12:47):
She was so amazing on the show currently. She was
so loving, she was so encouraging. She would cry if
she had to eliminate someone, like it would hurt her
heart to send someone home.
Speaker 2 (12:58):
And are these were these auditions for girls to go
out on her tour with her. Is that what it was?
Speaker 1 (13:03):
That's what it was that everyone was. They were auditioning
for a spot to go on tour with Lizzo, and
one of the girls that won is one of the
girls I believe that's part of this lawsuit, which is
Arianna Davis.
Speaker 2 (13:14):
Wow. Well, yeah, they're saying that there were personal details
about their lives, like one of them was a virgin,
and they would talk about that extensively, and you know,
she was very embarrassed. She didn't think that everybody needed
to know that personal information. And so there's like a
whole lot going on. But Lizzo did respond, okay, And
now you guys are listening to this. So this is
(13:35):
all happening like within the past week, and Lizzo said, quote,
these last few days have been got rigingly difficult and
overwhelmingly disappointing. Usually I choose not to respond to false allegations,
but these are as unbelievable as they sound, and two
outrageous to not be addressed. These sensationalized stories are coming
from former employees who have already publicly admitted that they
(13:55):
were told their behavior on tour was inappropriate and unprofessional,
and then she said, with passion comes hard work and
high standards. Sometimes I have to make card decision, but
it's never my intention to make anyone feel uncomfortable or
like they aren't valued as an important part of my team.
I know what it feels like to be body shamed
on a daily basis, and would never criticize or terminate
an employee because of their weight. So she's speaking out
(14:19):
on her own behalf and saying, like, hey, whatever, these
girls are saying, Number one, they were fired, and they
know why they were fired. I guess she's alleging that
they had inappropriate behavior. And then you know she's basically
saying these are false allegations and I would never address them,
but I need to because this is like my name.
She said. I'm hurt, but I will not let the
(14:40):
good work I've done in the world be overshadowed by this.
I want to thank everyone who has reached out and
support to lift me up during this difficult time. I
cannot imagine what her phone looks like right now.
Speaker 1 (14:51):
Her number must have been changed at this point. You
can't possibly keep the same number after a story like
this breaks.
Speaker 2 (14:57):
No, and then this former director Okay, this this documentarian
that was hired to do a documentary on Lizo, which
again I didn't watch this documentary, but I heard it
was incredible, Like that's streaming right now. She shared her
own experience and said that she traveled a bit with
Lizzo to be the director of her documentary and that
(15:18):
she walked off the job within two weeks, and she
said she was yeah, did you see she said she
was treated disrespectfully, and then she went on to say
that she saw how arrogant, self centered and unkind Lizzo is.
I was like, whoa, Okay, now this is like people
doubling down.
Speaker 1 (15:36):
Yeah, like because this happens, you know, like the whole
kicking while they're down thing when one allegation comes out,
people that might have had similar experience in this side. Okay,
I'm going to go public.
Speaker 2 (15:48):
Two.
Speaker 1 (15:49):
This happened to me with Lizo, and everyone wants to
share their story, and I guess kind of echo the
same sentiment.
Speaker 2 (15:55):
Yeah, but then, did you ever get to the bottom
of the false imprisonment charge? Because I've been trying to
look for that. I don't understand what's going on there.
Speaker 1 (16:02):
The only thing I can equate with that was Ariana
Davis and Crystal Williams. They claimed that they were scared
to speak up for themselves out of fear of losing
their job. So they pretty much were like there, they
wanted to be on the tour, but they felt like
if they spoke up for themselves or defended themselves that
they would be kicked off the tour. It's like they
felt trapped in a way.
Speaker 2 (16:22):
Oh okay, yeah, because like false imprisonment to me means
like did she lock them in their hotel room? Like
did she not allow them to leave? Like what is
that all about? So I think that we'll be hearing
more about that.
Speaker 1 (16:33):
Yeah, I need more later. No, I definitely didn't need
more details on this. But in the c CBS News
interview that I watched, the two main dancers that are
filing the lawsuit, they explained why they were fired. Well,
they there was like some issue about drinking. They said
Lizzo did not allow them to drink at all, you know,
drinking on the job. I can kind of understand that that's.
Speaker 2 (16:56):
Not uncommon for people who go on tour and perform.
There are some tours that are completely clean.
Speaker 1 (17:01):
And that's a fact, and then she confronted them about
drinking before the shows. You know that people were saying,
like they just didn't look good on stage, and they
blamed it on we think you guys are drinking before
you go on stage. And then they were fired, and
then they proceeded to file this lawsuit and I guess
unravel all these other things that they experienced during the tour.
Speaker 2 (17:23):
Wow, I mean, this is just so crazy. So the
three former backup dancers are now speaking out against her.
The director who is not a part of the lawsuit. Also,
I want to make sure that we like cover that
she was very open about that and said that she
was just stating her opinion on working with Lizo. So
we have her coming out and discussing and now how
(17:46):
did Beyonce get dragged into this mess? My queen is
out here touring, she is working, and now people want
to say that Beyonce is being messy, which now even
Beyonce's mother has been dragged into this whole thing. So,
you guys, this is like Dan Rolo, like, this is
like a whole web of just like stories and allegations
(18:07):
and things that are coming out. And so once we
take this break and when we come back. I'm going
to give you guys the latest on what Tina Knowles
had to say because mama has spoken. Well, honey, did
you get a chance to go and see Beyonce when
she was in town?
Speaker 1 (18:23):
Nah? I actually fell back. It was Met Life. I
felt like it was gonna I love Beyonce, but I've
seen her like probably like eight times, and I said,
this year, I'm gonna sit my ass down and let
other people enjoy.
Speaker 2 (18:33):
Oh yeah, Well one of my friends, her husband has
a box like a suite, and she had four tickets
and she was like, do you guys want to come
with me? And I was like, oh, hell, yes, I
want to come with you. You know. So I was
super excited. I haven't seen Beyonce on tour since on
the Run. And that was at Met Life as well,
I think so, or was it a Yankee Stadium? I
don't remember, but anyway, so we went and there's a
(18:55):
part of the show and this is why it's important,
So I wanted to bring this up. There's part of
the show where Beyonce speaks a bunch of iconic artists' names. Okay,
so she says like Rosetta Tharp, Santi Gold, Bessie Smith,
Nina Simone, Betty Davis, Solange, Knowles, ba Do, Lizzo, Kelly
(19:16):
Roll Okay. So she's been saying that on tour throughout
the entire tour. So in I think her latest performance,
she decided to just say Bado Badu Badu. Okay. So
now there's different reasons why people think that she's saying that.
But she took Lizzo's name out, and everybody went wild
(19:37):
with this. They oh, Beyonce doesn't support Lizzo, this and that. No, no, no,
they're talking about like how everybody's backing away, nobody's supporting Lizzo.
So Tina Noles, Beyonce's mom, came out and was like,
y'all need something better to talk about. She was like,
Beyonce did not skip because of this lawsuit. She also
(19:57):
didn't say her own sister's name. You really need to stop.
But a lot of people are saying, like, whoa is
the entertainment backlash coming? Now?
Speaker 1 (20:07):
You already know they said, they said, Beyonce performed Break
My Soul and she left off Lizzo's name, and that
was everywhere. I'm like, is Beyonce really taking a stance
like I was like, Okay, Beyonce never really stands up
for too much when it comes to like other celebrities
and stuff. She's very careful with what she does. So
I was surprised by this. Thank god. Tina Knowles was like,
(20:27):
let me tell ya what's.
Speaker 2 (20:28):
Up, right, because then there was the headlines Beyonce's canceled Lizzo. No,
I don't think she's canceled Lizzo. I think that she
just decided to do something different in Massachusetts than she
did in New York and New Jersey. But you know,
I do think there's something a little bit suspect about that.
And people were talking about her and ericabaud Dou like
just sidebar. Erica Badu recently said that, like Beyonce stole
(20:50):
her styles. So people are saying that, like maybe Beyonce
was shading Eric Abadu by saying Badu Badu Badu. Whatever. Okay,
So anyway we digress. We come back to whole lawsuit
and everything. So I don't know, what, do you think
you used to be a paralegal, and I know that
you've been around situations like this before. Do you think
that these people really have a chance at a lawsuit?
Speaker 1 (21:11):
Well, you know what it is. Once you file these lawsuits,
there's lawyers, there's people that's like, we're going to get
you paid, We're gonna get your bread. Like they they're
swon for like lost wages and things of that sort.
I guess for getting thrown off the tour because they
were allegedly drinking, but they were not drinking. So this
feels more like an employment discrimination lawsuit versus like something deeper,
(21:32):
Like I feel like, yeah, they were working with little
they feel like they were wrongfully terminating and their working
conditions weren't really like what they would have ideally liked
sexual harassment. But like this is more like an employment
you know, litigation that they have going on here.
Speaker 2 (21:47):
But now do you think that this is something to
where like Lizzle will have to go into court and
like testify against them if they decide to really take
it there, Like, is this something that that.
Speaker 1 (21:57):
It's civil to look at? Well, yeah, no, it's definitely
a civil. Also, they have attorneys. I'm pretty sure these
attorneys are going to take it all the way to
the top and they'll get paid later on once there's a
settlement and nothing goes harder for a client, and that
an attorney that's going to get paid at the end.
So trust me, Carolina, this is not going to go
away unless there's some type of like resolution or arbitration
(22:18):
or mediation behind closed doors. And Lizzle's like, I just
want this to go. Wait, how much money do you want?
How much money do you want? Okay, here's the check,
go away, ladies. It was nice knowing you.
Speaker 2 (22:27):
Oh okay. So then this wouldn't be something that we
would see like on court TV with people testifying and
going back and forth. Because remember like the Johnny Depp
amber Heard trial where we were just like totally fixated
on the television we could not stop watching.
Speaker 1 (22:39):
It really depends on the dancers and how far they
want to take it and the lawyers like, Okay, we're
going to drag this out. We're going to take little
to Supreme Court. Because with simple cases you do go
up to the Supreme Court. It's not like it's something minor.
This is big. This is a big deal. And the
fact that these girls are banding together and then they're
also getting people to chime in and the background, it's
given it more validation and more I guess validity to
(23:03):
their claim. So Lizo's gonna have to pay up, Liza's
gonna have to go to court. This is not going
to go a way easily.
Speaker 2 (23:09):
And there are two sides to it too, because once
Lizzo released that sement, see I feel like you're damned
if you do and you're damned if you don't, because
a lot of people have been commenting like, oh, there
was no acknowledgment, no accountability from Lizzo in that statement. Well,
what do you guys think that she's gonna do. Do
you think she's really gonna come out and be like yep,
I made them go to this like banana show and
answerdam with me. You know. I think that she's gonna
(23:32):
let her lawyer handle that. And let's also look at
the big picture. Lizzo has enough money now to hire
one of the best lawyers in Los Angeles. I think
Marty Singer is gonna represent her. And Marty Singer has
been connected to some of the like the biggest celebrities
and their court cases and stuff.
Speaker 1 (23:49):
Like Marty already spoke out and said, we are confident
that Lizzo will be completely vindicated in this matter. So
you already know Marty's gonna go hard for Lizzo.
Speaker 2 (23:58):
Yeah, and he is not to like the cameras. He
loves to represent celebrities and you know what, that's his wheelhouse,
you know. But like, on the other hand, I think
it is important that if you have ever been in
a situation, just because somebody has more money and they
have the ability to hire like the best lawyer doesn't
invalidate you know, maybe what you're feeling or what your
recollection was, you know. So I think these girls have
(24:21):
like a crazy battle ahead of them. But I also
think that so does Lizzo because if more people start
coming out and talking about their experiences with her, it
is not a good look.
Speaker 1 (24:31):
And you can't prepare your reputation. It would suck if
this is something that is not valid and it's not truthful.
And now a lot of us have you know, now
a lot of us have a different perspective as to
who Lizzo is. There are things that you just can't race,
and these allegations are here forever, we will forever find them,
(24:54):
and Lizzo's image has been tarnished. I was I was
online and I was like getting all these Lizzo numb
and they were like Lizzo lost like one hundred and
twenty thousand followers on Instagram alone after these accusations came out.
So people are already being turned off by Lizzo despite
not knowing the truth of the matter fully.
Speaker 2 (25:13):
Wow, And then that definitely hurts her in the pocket
because you know, you lose one hundred and twenty thousand followers.
I don't even have one hundred and twenty thousand dollars,
you know, but it's like those numbers though for her
that equals advertising dollars, endorsement and branding deals, you know.
So that's going to hit her in the pocket if
this negative press or this negative attention continues. Now. I
(25:34):
thought of a really great point though that somebody brought
up to me when we were discussing this today. I
I know, if this were a man and these were
accusations against like a different artists that were a male,
this would be blown up like crazy. I think it's
blown up like but I argued, I think this is
(25:56):
a giant story, you know what I mean, Like, I
don't think that it's any us because Lizzo is a woman.
I think the people are more surprised because it's a woman.
Speaker 1 (26:05):
Also, for me, it was just okay, so they're hanging out.
Lizo is very open sexually. We all know this. Lizo
is very comfortable showing her body and twerk and just
you know, she's very open sexually. So right, I took
it for like, okay, they went out. You know, Lizo
was maybe drinking, she was doing a little too much.
They weren't comfortable with it. So I have to wait
(26:27):
for this story to unfold because I feel like there's
layers to this story.
Speaker 2 (26:31):
I know. But you can't do that anymore. I mean
I feel like again, like I said, like it's twenty
twenty three, you cannot be heading to a strip club
with your counterparts. Now. It's even frowned upon to even
go to a bar with somebody who you work.
Speaker 1 (26:45):
With, you know what I mean, Like thought these were
the homies.
Speaker 2 (26:50):
No, you gotta watch out. That's why they say you
may think they're your homie, but they may be a phony,
you know. I mean, it's true because you have to
be so guarded, but it's actually when you're in a
position of power. You know, we have to take these
oh my gosh, you guys, we have to take these
courses every year online and it's like our company makes
(27:10):
us take this like thing where you have to learn
about sexual harassment and all of these things, you know,
and it's like they do it because then they say
like we prepared you or we let you know what's
to be expected, and they always have these like fake
people acting out these scenarios. I would love to see
them try to like fake act out the Lizzo scenario, like, hey,
(27:31):
we're gonna go We're gonna see a woman with a
banana in her vatina, Like what do you guys think
a B or C? Is this appropriate? Is it inappropriate?
Or do you just go with the flow? You know?
Speaker 1 (27:42):
And different artists are totally different when it comes to
who they interact with on tour, Like I know a
lot of people that work in the touring industry, Like
one of my close friends, she's on tour with fifty
cent right now, and she was on tour with Naked,
with Ariana Grande, with Pitople, and every experience is totally
different for her. Some artists come out, some artists just
go straight to their room. I feel like this is
(28:04):
a case where you know, Lizzo did too much and
was too involved with the dancers hanging out drinking, going outside,
and she gonna let her guard down. She I guess
maybe she just didn't act like a boss. Let's say, like,
I know someone who was on tour with Bad Bunny.
He was amazing. He chartered everyone, didn't even take buses.
He brought them everyone on planes, and they said he
(28:25):
would be most amazing. But he wasn't always present. Like
he would set up like bowling parties for them. Everybody
would go bowling, he wouldn't be there. He would buy
everyone sneakers and he would send them, he wouldn't be there.
Maybe what happened to lizz was she just got too
caught up and started hanging out with these dancers like
they were her friends. And here we are.
Speaker 2 (28:43):
Yeah, oh my gosh. No, definitely. So it's like word
to the why separate your business and your pleasure and
your fun and your friends, because like this is not it.
And I'm just curious to see how Lizzo's gonna deal
with that. But I do think it's going to give
us more of an inside look into how these tours operate.
You know, And we were mentioning before I know that
(29:04):
when Britney Spears was on tour, all of her dancers
were tested, they were required even on their off days
to be clean. They wanted nothing, so you had to
make that commitment. If you want to dance for Brittany,
you cannot consume alcohol, drugs or you'll be kicked off.
You know, So we need to see in all fairness, like,
(29:24):
were there these rules implemented on Lozo tour? You know,
did the dancers really know what their limitations were before?
Because it could come back to bite them in the ass.
Speaker 1 (29:34):
You know, we don't know at this point. Is it
sensationalized or is it one hundred percent true? And we
just never knew Lizzle because I feel like a lot
of the times, Carolina, we tend to put celebrities and
pedestals in Lizzle. I feel like this is one of them.
I feel like everybody's like, oh my gosh, she's so
body positive, she's amazing, she's so good, she's doing so much.
She's representative of so many different you know groups, you know,
(29:58):
people of color, women of color, plus sized people, like
she was just a queen to a lot of people.
I myself always supported her, always admired her, and definitely
totally blindsided. But it teaches me a lesson. You don't
know these celebrities girls, sit your ass down. Stop guessing.
Speaker 2 (30:16):
No, But also I do have to say, like, we
are a country of innocent until proven guilty, and I
think that we have to be fair, you know, we
have to I think cancel culture. Everybody's so quick now
to cancel. And it's like, could it have been a
toxic work environment? Yes? Should we give Lizzo the freedom
and the ability to defend herself like in a court,
(30:37):
Like she doesn't have to release a statement for the public,
like a lot of people would want her to, but
she doesn't have to, you know what I'm saying. So
it's like, you are innocent until proven guilty in this country,
or at least you know, a lot of people say that,
But like are we practicing that, because I know a
lot of people have already begun judging in their own lives, and.
Speaker 1 (30:55):
I feel like we haven't practiced that and forever, I
feel like in this country, it's like the sentiment is
more you are guilty until you prove yourself innocent.
Speaker 2 (31:02):
Yeah, even a celebrity, even a.
Speaker 1 (31:04):
Celebrities this it's like, okay, you did it. Now proved
to me that you didn't do it for real.
Speaker 2 (31:08):
And now, like I think that she has season two
or she has another season of her show that's going
to be coming out, So this could definitely harm her professionally,
Like there are a number of things that could you know, backlash,
be a backlash for her, and you know, I'm curious
to see how it's going to play out. I know
that when R Kelly got in trouble. I know that
(31:29):
when Chris Brown got in trouble, people were writing into
the radio station saying, take their music off of your station.
You know, are people going to go that far with this?
You just never know.
Speaker 1 (31:39):
We don't know. It's like even brands that's also a
big deal for like artists. It's like brands will disassociate themselves,
Like she could lose millions behind this. So it's like
not that I want it to be true, but I
hope it is truth. If this is already probably going
to cause dis must damage to not only her reputation
but her pockets, well.
Speaker 2 (32:01):
We are going to be watching and we will keep
you posted, guys, because this story is just wow. Like them,
I said, like the flames just keep getting higher and higher,
and I was like one day That's what I was like,
Tina Knowles is involved? What is happening here? You know,
like not Beyonce's law. That's what you said.
Speaker 1 (32:18):
We got to talk about it, yes, because.
Speaker 2 (32:20):
I said the queen's mother. This was like, Beyonce is
my queen and her mother Tina like who birthed her?
When she speaks out, you know you need to listen.
So I feel like we're gonna hear more about it, Like,
definitely comment and let us know what are your thoughts
on this? Did you believe it right when it came out?
Whose side are you on? Let us know. You can
follow us at l I Spanguish on social media, hit me.
Speaker 1 (32:43):
Up on a gram. I am honey German. I'm down
to discuss this topic from all different angles because I
have opinions.
Speaker 2 (32:49):
Oh definitely, and you can hit me up at the
real Carolina on all social media. Guys, thank you so
much for joining us and for liking and subscribing. You know,
we give you a new episode every Friday, so make
sure you join it next week.
Speaker 1 (33:01):
Please see Lifeence Banglish is a production of Life Pence
Banguished Productions in partnership with Iheart'smkunturda Podcast Network,
I'm Honey Germy. My parents are Dominican. I was born
and raised in New York City. I love sneakers and
I'm a body positive advocate.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
I'm Carolina Bermudez soy Nikaa wins it. But I was
born and raised in Ohio. I'm a wife, a mama,
and a worker bee. This is life in Spanglish. You
know the episode's gonna be good when we begin with girl.
Oh my gosh, wow, this is explosive. I can't believe
what is going on, and we must discuss the big
(00:32):
Lizzo news that's been breaking over the past couple of
days because there's just so much going on that I
can hardly wrap my mind around it.
Speaker 1 (00:40):
The same here is like every time I turn around,
it's like a different angle with this Lizzo story.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
Definitely, So yeah, that is what we were discussing today
in Life in Spanglish. Now, I will say I have
been very surprised, just like Honey has, because it's like
when these I guess allegations came out, well, I was
I was like, wait, really like Lizo, because I mean,
when you hear all of the things that we break
it down for you, it may come as a surprise
(01:08):
to you too. But now that more details are coming
out and more people are talking about, you know, her
personality and what Lizo was like to work with, and
you know, I don't know. I'm just I'm really really
trying to just like break it all down. But this
information is coming fast and furious. And it's funny because
one of my friends that I was talking to about
(01:28):
it said, you know what, they build you up and
then they take you down, because you know, Lizo has
been trying to make it in this industry now for
I mean obviously over a decade, and she's worked her
tail off and it seems like she was everywhere these
past couple of years.
Speaker 1 (01:44):
And she's managed to do something that's super commendable and
it exists in a black space, a white space in
R and B, hip hop and pop. Like what she's
done here, not only as a woman of color, but
as a plus woman. I've always been a fan Carolina
just on the strength of that.
Speaker 2 (02:04):
Well, she's talented, that's no doubt.
Speaker 1 (02:06):
Right, And here we are now trying to tear down Lizzo.
Speaker 2 (02:13):
You know. And here's the thing. These are allegations and
so we are not speaking with authority on any of this,
because you know clearly this is just a story that's
breaking now. I was so shocked to wake up this morning.
The first thing that showed up on my Instagram was
her statement today. So three of Lizzo's former dancers have
filed a lawsuit against her, her production company, and the
(02:35):
dance captain that she hired, shir Lean Quickly. So this
is basically what the whole lawsuit is about. These dancers
are alleging sexual, religious and racial harassment, disability discrimination, assault,
and false imprisonment. That one was the one that blew
(02:56):
me away. I was like, whoa need to norm know
more about that one?
Speaker 1 (03:00):
This is a lot and I feel like the legal
terms are kind of like dragging it a little bit.
Speaker 2 (03:06):
Yeah, you are a paralegal, honey, and so I feel
like you have like a lot of knowledge on this
and you can really help us understand what's going on
with this whole story.
Speaker 1 (03:14):
No, for sure. And you know we got to get
in the false imprisonment. That's where they caught me out.
I'm like, what do they mean by that? And then
it's like we get into it and it's just like, oh,
fear of losing your job, like not wanting to do
certain things because of retaliation. There's a lot here to unpack. Carolina.
Speaker 2 (03:30):
Ooh yeah, so these dancers are claiming that when they
were on tour with Lizzo, she invited them. This is okay,
by the way, let's just say this. If you're listening
to Life in Spanglish with little kiddos, first of all,
we appreciate it, but the rest of this episode is
going to be not safe for them, so we want
to give you fair warning. We love that you listen,
but this might be the part where either you pause
(03:51):
it and come back and listen later so that the
little ears don't hear what's going on, because it can
get pretty graphic and like not safe for kids, not
safe for work if you're listening to us at work
on a desktop and other people can hear. We just
want to give you fair warning because when we give
you these details, you're going to see why this is
kind of more of an adult conversation.
Speaker 1 (04:11):
You want to start with Bananashow, Is that what it is?
Speaker 2 (04:14):
Well, yeah, I think we should have started there, right, yeah,
because I mean, yeah, this is where I was just like, Okay,
I've been in situations before throughout my professional career where
people have taken me to different places. Look, I mean,
I'll be honest, there are some times where in the
past I've had to go and meet somebody that I
(04:34):
worked with at a strip club to drop something off
for them, you know what I mean. So this is
not unheard of any entertainment industry. I think that there
are a lot of people who have similar stories of
you know, being in different places where perhaps they didn't
think business was going to go down, But this kind
of takes it to a different level. So I've never
(04:55):
been involved in anything like this, and I don't know
how I would have reacted if my b or somebody
who was my superior took me to a place like.
Speaker 1 (05:04):
This and it you know, they're out in Amsterdam. Let's
let's put that out there, which you know has this
red light district. A lot of sexual stuff happens, and
I feel like a lot of people are open to
going to these types of shows. And she probably like, yeah,
we're just hanging out or whatever, but what transpired at
the show is what is the real issue?
Speaker 2 (05:23):
Carolina definitely well. Also, I will clarify I used to
work for a DJ when I was interning one of
my very first internship jobs. And when I tell you
that I had to go to the strip club, it's
that he used to have records, like you know, so
they used to have these crates of records, and he
left one at the station. I had to go to
the station and picking up tickets him at the strip
club where he was DJing. So I don't want anybody
(05:44):
thinking that anything crazy went on, So just to clarify that,
So yeah, the Dancwers claimed that while Lizo invited them
to a nude performance in Amsterdam, they went because they
feared that they would lose their jobs. So while they
were at this show, the lawsuit is claim mean that
Lizzo began leading a camp for one of the girls
in the lawsuit to touch one of the performer's breasts.
(06:07):
So she felt a little bit coerced at that point
because she went on three times and it was loud
enough for everybody to hear, and she expressed to her
in her words that she was good, like she said,
I'm good, and that to her was basically saying I
do not want to touch this performer's breass. But then
she went ahead and did it because she was fearful
(06:29):
that it may harm her future on the team, hence retaliation.
So later that night, the allegations continue and they say
that Lizzo was badgering a member of her security team
to get on stage and then she pulled down his
pants and hit him with whips.
Speaker 1 (06:46):
And Jesus, that is a lot what is happening at
Camp Lizzo.
Speaker 2 (06:50):
I mean, okay, this is like next level while. But
I've never been to Amsterdam. I don't know if you've
ever been to Amsterdam, Honey.
Speaker 1 (06:57):
I have not, but I have friends that have been,
and you know, it's a little while over there, right.
Speaker 2 (07:02):
Like I've heard of people that have gone on vacation
or with other friends and stuff like that, but I've
never been, and I did hear that. You know, things
get a little crazy. So later that night they're saying that,
you know, a number of things also happened. One of
the things was what you mentioned the banana, which I'm
gonna let you take that one.
Speaker 1 (07:21):
Well, it seems though where they went they have this
banana show where people, I guess patrons are encouraged to
eat like a banana out of like the private parts
of some of the performers or after it's been in
there and that exactly. Now, that's some nastiness right there, Carolina.
(07:41):
I'm not with it. I don't care if you my
boss or not. This is the day that we part ways.
I'm not eating no banana out of nobody's coucy. I'm sorry.
Speaker 2 (07:49):
And there's another discussion about Lizzo telling them that they
were going to go to a bar in Paris, but
not revealing to them that it was going to be
a nude cabaret, which I think that that's important to
let people know, like, hey, we're going to go clubbing,
we're gonna go out, it's going to be a wild night,
we're gonna do xyz, so that those people who kind
(08:09):
of that aren't into that stuff can make that decision
for themselves and decide whether or not they want to go.
Speaker 1 (08:14):
There another instance where you could say I'm good and
decide to fall back. But I'm gonna be in my room,
I'm gonna do an iemask, I'm gonna tweeze my chin
hair anything. I don't want to see naked people tonight.
Speaker 2 (08:26):
Well, yeah, and you think about it. If these people
are on the road, they are going out every single
day and not going out like partying. They're performing every
single day. They're in a different town. They have to
keep track of, you know, where they are. Sometimes that
means self care. You know, self care could be exactly
what you said, deciding to stay in bed and saying,
(08:48):
you know what, I'm not about that tonight, I'm gonna
take care of me. I'm going to order room service.
And so they felt pressured that if they didn't go,
that they would that they would get retaliated against, and
that it would be held against them. Now, another thing
that I also read in this lawsuit was that the
dancers were saying that the management team was entirely white,
(09:09):
and that the team was accusing the black members of
the dance team for being lazy and unprofessional and would
say that they had bad attitudes. But you know, again,
I think that this lawsuit is really interesting because it's
kind of like she said, she said, right, like the
when the girls came out and they were alleging all
of these things, we hadn't heard from Lizzo. So they
(09:30):
were giving their side of the story.
Speaker 1 (09:33):
And it's thing had been busy on doing interviews. I
was just watching them, like do an interview on like
CBS or NBC or one of them. They are actually
speaking out.
Speaker 2 (09:41):
Now, definitely, And then there's a big conversation about the
weight shaming, which I actually had to look up weight shaming,
and I didn't understand. But when we come back, I'm
going to break down for you what the girls are
alleging that Lizzo would say to them, or one girl
in particular, and we'll do that after the break. So
(10:06):
when these accusations started coming out and one of the
young ladies was saying that she was weight shamed, I
didn't understand what that meant, you know, because I've heard
of fat shaming, I've heard of body shaming. I've heard
of all these different things, and so I I googled.
I was just like, what is weight shaming? And I
think that it is. There really isn't an explanation for it.
(10:28):
Do you understand what weight shaming is?
Speaker 1 (10:30):
Oh no, that's a fact. My mom did it my
whole life growing up, eat a salad. Weight shaming was
a part of my upbringing. I've lived it. It can
be very traumatizing, have long term, you know, negative effects
on any woman or even boys. People wait shame little
(10:53):
boys too all the time.
Speaker 2 (10:55):
Yeah, well yeah, so then I guess it's more weight
shaming because a lot of people online and you know,
the comment section is crazy right now. Everybody has an opinion,
everybody wants to say what they want to say about this.
But you know, I guess my assumption is that it's
it's the equivalent of body shaming and fat shaming, and
it's it's not even necessarily about a specific number. It's
(11:17):
pointing out that somebody has gained some weight. And so
one of the girls said that she was being weight
shamed by Lizzo and her choreographer and said that Lizzo
came up to her, I guess at one of the
rehearsals and was just like, what's going on with you?
You know, like, what's why are you not as bubbly?
Why you? And she she basically put them under like
(11:38):
a thin veil of concern, But Lizzo had called attention
to it and was kind of calling her out about it.
So that's that one, to me, is just kind of
a little bit I again, we don't know, we weren't there.
It's kind of like a what she said versus what
Lizzo said. And I think that there were people who
were present that can maybe speak to that, but also
(12:00):
there are a number of other people that are coming
out now talking just about Lizzo's attitude and what it's
like to work with her.
Speaker 1 (12:08):
And that I think that's where I was blindsided. I
think more I always, you know, had Lizzo on this
pedestal because of what she had done for body positivity.
I watched the reality show The Watch Out for the
Big Girls where she actually hired two of these dancers
from they had auditioned and they won like a spot
to go on tour with Lizzo, and everything seemed fine.
(12:29):
Like Arianna Davis, She's one of the girls that competed
on the show, And I would have never expected any
of this to come out like I am mind blown
because I really thought Lizzo was different than what these
people are alleging.
Speaker 2 (12:42):
I think everybody did. Yeah, And I never got to
watch the show, so I can't speak on on.
Speaker 1 (12:47):
She was so amazing on the show currently. She was
so loving, she was so encouraging. She would cry if
she had to eliminate someone, like it would hurt her
heart to send someone home.
Speaker 2 (12:58):
And are these were these auditions for girls to go
out on her tour with her. Is that what it was?
Speaker 1 (13:03):
That's what it was that everyone was. They were auditioning
for a spot to go on tour with Lizzo, and
one of the girls that won is one of the
girls I believe that's part of this lawsuit, which is
Arianna Davis.
Speaker 2 (13:14):
Wow. Well, yeah, they're saying that there were personal details
about their lives, like one of them was a virgin,
and they would talk about that extensively, and you know,
she was very embarrassed. She didn't think that everybody needed
to know that personal information. And so there's like a
whole lot going on. But Lizzo did respond, okay, And
now you guys are listening to this. So this is
(13:35):
all happening like within the past week, and Lizzo said, quote,
these last few days have been got rigingly difficult and
overwhelmingly disappointing. Usually I choose not to respond to false allegations,
but these are as unbelievable as they sound, and two
outrageous to not be addressed. These sensationalized stories are coming
from former employees who have already publicly admitted that they
(13:55):
were told their behavior on tour was inappropriate and unprofessional,
and then she said, with passion comes hard work and
high standards. Sometimes I have to make card decision, but
it's never my intention to make anyone feel uncomfortable or
like they aren't valued as an important part of my team.
I know what it feels like to be body shamed
on a daily basis, and would never criticize or terminate
an employee because of their weight. So she's speaking out
(14:19):
on her own behalf and saying, like, hey, whatever, these
girls are saying, Number one, they were fired, and they
know why they were fired. I guess she's alleging that
they had inappropriate behavior. And then you know she's basically
saying these are false allegations and I would never address them,
but I need to because this is like my name.
She said. I'm hurt, but I will not let the
(14:40):
good work I've done in the world be overshadowed by this.
I want to thank everyone who has reached out and
support to lift me up during this difficult time. I
cannot imagine what her phone looks like right now.
Speaker 1 (14:51):
Her number must have been changed at this point. You
can't possibly keep the same number after a story like
this breaks.
Speaker 2 (14:57):
No, and then this former director Okay, this this documentarian
that was hired to do a documentary on Lizo, which
again I didn't watch this documentary, but I heard it
was incredible, Like that's streaming right now. She shared her
own experience and said that she traveled a bit with
Lizzo to be the director of her documentary and that
(15:18):
she walked off the job within two weeks, and she
said she was yeah, did you see she said she
was treated disrespectfully, and then she went on to say
that she saw how arrogant, self centered and unkind Lizzo is.
I was like, whoa, Okay, now this is like people
doubling down.
Speaker 1 (15:36):
Yeah, like because this happens, you know, like the whole
kicking while they're down thing when one allegation comes out,
people that might have had similar experience in this side. Okay,
I'm going to go public.
Speaker 2 (15:48):
Two.
Speaker 1 (15:49):
This happened to me with Lizo, and everyone wants to
share their story, and I guess kind of echo the
same sentiment.
Speaker 2 (15:55):
Yeah, but then, did you ever get to the bottom
of the false imprisonment charge? Because I've been trying to
look for that. I don't understand what's going on there.
Speaker 1 (16:02):
The only thing I can equate with that was Ariana
Davis and Crystal Williams. They claimed that they were scared
to speak up for themselves out of fear of losing
their job. So they pretty much were like there, they
wanted to be on the tour, but they felt like
if they spoke up for themselves or defended themselves that
they would be kicked off the tour. It's like they
felt trapped in a way.
Speaker 2 (16:22):
Oh okay, yeah, because like false imprisonment to me means
like did she lock them in their hotel room? Like
did she not allow them to leave? Like what is
that all about? So I think that we'll be hearing
more about that.
Speaker 1 (16:33):
Yeah, I need more later. No, I definitely didn't need
more details on this. But in the c CBS News
interview that I watched, the two main dancers that are
filing the lawsuit, they explained why they were fired. Well,
they there was like some issue about drinking. They said
Lizzo did not allow them to drink at all, you know,
drinking on the job. I can kind of understand that that's.
Speaker 2 (16:56):
Not uncommon for people who go on tour and perform.
There are some tours that are completely clean.
Speaker 1 (17:01):
And that's a fact, and then she confronted them about
drinking before the shows. You know that people were saying,
like they just didn't look good on stage, and they
blamed it on we think you guys are drinking before
you go on stage. And then they were fired, and
then they proceeded to file this lawsuit and I guess
unravel all these other things that they experienced during the tour.
Speaker 2 (17:23):
Wow, I mean, this is just so crazy. So the
three former backup dancers are now speaking out against her.
The director who is not a part of the lawsuit. Also,
I want to make sure that we like cover that
she was very open about that and said that she
was just stating her opinion on working with Lizo. So
we have her coming out and discussing and now how
(17:46):
did Beyonce get dragged into this mess? My queen is
out here touring, she is working, and now people want
to say that Beyonce is being messy, which now even
Beyonce's mother has been dragged into this whole thing. So,
you guys, this is like Dan Rolo, like, this is
like a whole web of just like stories and allegations
(18:07):
and things that are coming out. And so once we
take this break and when we come back. I'm going
to give you guys the latest on what Tina Knowles
had to say because mama has spoken. Well, honey, did
you get a chance to go and see Beyonce when
she was in town?
Speaker 1 (18:23):
Nah? I actually fell back. It was Met Life. I
felt like it was gonna I love Beyonce, but I've
seen her like probably like eight times, and I said,
this year, I'm gonna sit my ass down and let
other people enjoy.
Speaker 2 (18:33):
Oh yeah, Well one of my friends, her husband has
a box like a suite, and she had four tickets
and she was like, do you guys want to come
with me? And I was like, oh, hell, yes, I
want to come with you. You know. So I was
super excited. I haven't seen Beyonce on tour since on
the Run. And that was at Met Life as well,
I think so, or was it a Yankee Stadium? I
don't remember, but anyway, so we went and there's a
(18:55):
part of the show and this is why it's important,
So I wanted to bring this up. There's part of
the show where Beyonce speaks a bunch of iconic artists' names. Okay,
so she says like Rosetta Tharp, Santi Gold, Bessie Smith,
Nina Simone, Betty Davis, Solange, Knowles, ba Do, Lizzo, Kelly
(19:16):
Roll Okay. So she's been saying that on tour throughout
the entire tour. So in I think her latest performance,
she decided to just say Bado Badu Badu. Okay. So
now there's different reasons why people think that she's saying that.
But she took Lizzo's name out, and everybody went wild
(19:37):
with this. They oh, Beyonce doesn't support Lizzo, this and that. No, no, no,
they're talking about like how everybody's backing away, nobody's supporting Lizzo.
So Tina Noles, Beyonce's mom, came out and was like,
y'all need something better to talk about. She was like,
Beyonce did not skip because of this lawsuit. She also
(19:57):
didn't say her own sister's name. You really need to stop.
But a lot of people are saying, like, whoa is
the entertainment backlash coming? Now?
Speaker 1 (20:07):
You already know they said, they said, Beyonce performed Break
My Soul and she left off Lizzo's name, and that
was everywhere. I'm like, is Beyonce really taking a stance
like I was like, Okay, Beyonce never really stands up
for too much when it comes to like other celebrities
and stuff. She's very careful with what she does. So
I was surprised by this. Thank god. Tina Knowles was like,
(20:27):
let me tell ya what's.
Speaker 2 (20:28):
Up, right, because then there was the headlines Beyonce's canceled Lizzo. No,
I don't think she's canceled Lizzo. I think that she
just decided to do something different in Massachusetts than she
did in New York and New Jersey. But you know,
I do think there's something a little bit suspect about that.
And people were talking about her and ericabaud Dou like
just sidebar. Erica Badu recently said that, like Beyonce stole
(20:50):
her styles. So people are saying that, like maybe Beyonce
was shading Eric Abadu by saying Badu Badu Badu. Whatever. Okay,
So anyway we digress. We come back to whole lawsuit
and everything. So I don't know, what, do you think
you used to be a paralegal, and I know that
you've been around situations like this before. Do you think
that these people really have a chance at a lawsuit?
Speaker 1 (21:11):
Well, you know what it is. Once you file these lawsuits,
there's lawyers, there's people that's like, we're going to get
you paid, We're gonna get your bread. Like they they're
swon for like lost wages and things of that sort.
I guess for getting thrown off the tour because they
were allegedly drinking, but they were not drinking. So this
feels more like an employment discrimination lawsuit versus like something deeper,
(21:32):
Like I feel like, yeah, they were working with little
they feel like they were wrongfully terminating and their working
conditions weren't really like what they would have ideally liked
sexual harassment. But like this is more like an employment
you know, litigation that they have going on here.
Speaker 2 (21:47):
But now do you think that this is something to
where like Lizzle will have to go into court and
like testify against them if they decide to really take
it there, Like, is this something that that.
Speaker 1 (21:57):
It's civil to look at? Well, yeah, no, it's definitely
a civil. Also, they have attorneys. I'm pretty sure these
attorneys are going to take it all the way to
the top and they'll get paid later on once there's a
settlement and nothing goes harder for a client, and that
an attorney that's going to get paid at the end.
So trust me, Carolina, this is not going to go
away unless there's some type of like resolution or arbitration
(22:18):
or mediation behind closed doors. And Lizzle's like, I just
want this to go. Wait, how much money do you want?
How much money do you want? Okay, here's the check,
go away, ladies. It was nice knowing you.
Speaker 2 (22:27):
Oh okay. So then this wouldn't be something that we
would see like on court TV with people testifying and
going back and forth. Because remember like the Johnny Depp
amber Heard trial where we were just like totally fixated
on the television we could not stop watching.
Speaker 1 (22:39):
It really depends on the dancers and how far they
want to take it and the lawyers like, Okay, we're
going to drag this out. We're going to take little
to Supreme Court. Because with simple cases you do go
up to the Supreme Court. It's not like it's something minor.
This is big. This is a big deal. And the
fact that these girls are banding together and then they're
also getting people to chime in and the background, it's
given it more validation and more I guess validity to
(23:03):
their claim. So Lizo's gonna have to pay up, Liza's
gonna have to go to court. This is not going
to go a way easily.
Speaker 2 (23:09):
And there are two sides to it too, because once
Lizzo released that sement, see I feel like you're damned
if you do and you're damned if you don't, because
a lot of people have been commenting like, oh, there
was no acknowledgment, no accountability from Lizzo in that statement. Well,
what do you guys think that she's gonna do. Do
you think she's really gonna come out and be like yep,
I made them go to this like banana show and
answerdam with me. You know. I think that she's gonna
(23:32):
let her lawyer handle that. And let's also look at
the big picture. Lizzo has enough money now to hire
one of the best lawyers in Los Angeles. I think
Marty Singer is gonna represent her. And Marty Singer has
been connected to some of the like the biggest celebrities
and their court cases and stuff.
Speaker 1 (23:49):
Like Marty already spoke out and said, we are confident
that Lizzo will be completely vindicated in this matter. So
you already know Marty's gonna go hard for Lizzo.
Speaker 2 (23:58):
Yeah, and he is not to like the cameras. He
loves to represent celebrities and you know what, that's his wheelhouse,
you know. But like, on the other hand, I think
it is important that if you have ever been in
a situation, just because somebody has more money and they
have the ability to hire like the best lawyer doesn't
invalidate you know, maybe what you're feeling or what your
recollection was, you know. So I think these girls have
(24:21):
like a crazy battle ahead of them. But I also
think that so does Lizzo because if more people start
coming out and talking about their experiences with her, it
is not a good look.
Speaker 1 (24:31):
And you can't prepare your reputation. It would suck if
this is something that is not valid and it's not truthful.
And now a lot of us have you know, now
a lot of us have a different perspective as to
who Lizzo is. There are things that you just can't race,
and these allegations are here forever, we will forever find them,
(24:54):
and Lizzo's image has been tarnished. I was I was
online and I was like getting all these Lizzo numb
and they were like Lizzo lost like one hundred and
twenty thousand followers on Instagram alone after these accusations came out.
So people are already being turned off by Lizzo despite
not knowing the truth of the matter fully.
Speaker 2 (25:13):
Wow, And then that definitely hurts her in the pocket
because you know, you lose one hundred and twenty thousand followers.
I don't even have one hundred and twenty thousand dollars,
you know, but it's like those numbers though for her
that equals advertising dollars, endorsement and branding deals, you know.
So that's going to hit her in the pocket if
this negative press or this negative attention continues. Now. I
(25:34):
thought of a really great point though that somebody brought
up to me when we were discussing this today. I
I know, if this were a man and these were
accusations against like a different artists that were a male,
this would be blown up like crazy. I think it's
blown up like but I argued, I think this is
(25:56):
a giant story, you know what I mean, Like, I
don't think that it's any us because Lizzo is a woman.
I think the people are more surprised because it's a woman.
Speaker 1 (26:05):
Also, for me, it was just okay, so they're hanging out.
Lizo is very open sexually. We all know this. Lizo
is very comfortable showing her body and twerk and just
you know, she's very open sexually. So right, I took
it for like, okay, they went out. You know, Lizo
was maybe drinking, she was doing a little too much.
They weren't comfortable with it. So I have to wait
(26:27):
for this story to unfold because I feel like there's
layers to this story.
Speaker 2 (26:31):
I know. But you can't do that anymore. I mean
I feel like again, like I said, like it's twenty
twenty three, you cannot be heading to a strip club
with your counterparts. Now. It's even frowned upon to even
go to a bar with somebody who you work.
Speaker 1 (26:45):
With, you know what I mean, Like thought these were
the homies.
Speaker 2 (26:50):
No, you gotta watch out. That's why they say you
may think they're your homie, but they may be a phony,
you know. I mean, it's true because you have to
be so guarded, but it's actually when you're in a
position of power. You know, we have to take these
oh my gosh, you guys, we have to take these
courses every year online and it's like our company makes
(27:10):
us take this like thing where you have to learn
about sexual harassment and all of these things, you know,
and it's like they do it because then they say
like we prepared you or we let you know what's
to be expected, and they always have these like fake
people acting out these scenarios. I would love to see
them try to like fake act out the Lizzo scenario, like, hey,
(27:31):
we're gonna go We're gonna see a woman with a
banana in her vatina, Like what do you guys think
a B or C? Is this appropriate? Is it inappropriate?
Or do you just go with the flow? You know?
Speaker 1 (27:42):
And different artists are totally different when it comes to
who they interact with on tour, Like I know a
lot of people that work in the touring industry, Like
one of my close friends, she's on tour with fifty
cent right now, and she was on tour with Naked,
with Ariana Grande, with Pitople, and every experience is totally
different for her. Some artists come out, some artists just
go straight to their room. I feel like this is
(28:04):
a case where you know, Lizzo did too much and
was too involved with the dancers hanging out drinking, going outside,
and she gonna let her guard down. She I guess
maybe she just didn't act like a boss. Let's say, like,
I know someone who was on tour with Bad Bunny.
He was amazing. He chartered everyone, didn't even take buses.
He brought them everyone on planes, and they said he
(28:25):
would be most amazing. But he wasn't always present. Like
he would set up like bowling parties for them. Everybody
would go bowling, he wouldn't be there. He would buy
everyone sneakers and he would send them, he wouldn't be there.
Maybe what happened to lizz was she just got too
caught up and started hanging out with these dancers like
they were her friends. And here we are.
Speaker 2 (28:43):
Yeah, oh my gosh. No, definitely. So it's like word
to the why separate your business and your pleasure and
your fun and your friends, because like this is not it.
And I'm just curious to see how Lizzo's gonna deal
with that. But I do think it's going to give
us more of an inside look into how these tours operate.
You know, And we were mentioning before I know that
(29:04):
when Britney Spears was on tour, all of her dancers
were tested, they were required even on their off days
to be clean. They wanted nothing, so you had to
make that commitment. If you want to dance for Brittany,
you cannot consume alcohol, drugs or you'll be kicked off.
You know, So we need to see in all fairness, like,
(29:24):
were there these rules implemented on Lozo tour? You know,
did the dancers really know what their limitations were before?
Because it could come back to bite them in the ass.
Speaker 1 (29:34):
You know, we don't know at this point. Is it
sensationalized or is it one hundred percent true? And we
just never knew Lizzle because I feel like a lot
of the times, Carolina, we tend to put celebrities and
pedestals in Lizzle. I feel like this is one of them.
I feel like everybody's like, oh my gosh, she's so
body positive, she's amazing, she's so good, she's doing so much.
She's representative of so many different you know groups, you know,
(29:58):
people of color, women of color, plus sized people, like
she was just a queen to a lot of people.
I myself always supported her, always admired her, and definitely
totally blindsided. But it teaches me a lesson. You don't
know these celebrities girls, sit your ass down. Stop guessing.
Speaker 2 (30:16):
No, But also I do have to say, like, we
are a country of innocent until proven guilty, and I
think that we have to be fair, you know, we
have to I think cancel culture. Everybody's so quick now
to cancel. And it's like, could it have been a
toxic work environment? Yes? Should we give Lizzo the freedom
and the ability to defend herself like in a court,
(30:37):
Like she doesn't have to release a statement for the public,
like a lot of people would want her to, but
she doesn't have to, you know what I'm saying. So
it's like, you are innocent until proven guilty in this country,
or at least you know, a lot of people say that,
But like are we practicing that, because I know a
lot of people have already begun judging in their own lives, and.
Speaker 1 (30:55):
I feel like we haven't practiced that and forever, I
feel like in this country, it's like the sentiment is
more you are guilty until you prove yourself innocent.
Speaker 2 (31:02):
Yeah, even a celebrity, even a.
Speaker 1 (31:04):
Celebrities this it's like, okay, you did it. Now proved
to me that you didn't do it for real.
Speaker 2 (31:08):
And now, like I think that she has season two
or she has another season of her show that's going
to be coming out, So this could definitely harm her professionally,
Like there are a number of things that could you know, backlash,
be a backlash for her, and you know, I'm curious
to see how it's going to play out. I know
that when R Kelly got in trouble. I know that
(31:29):
when Chris Brown got in trouble, people were writing into
the radio station saying, take their music off of your station.
You know, are people going to go that far with this?
You just never know.
Speaker 1 (31:39):
We don't know. It's like even brands that's also a
big deal for like artists. It's like brands will disassociate themselves,
Like she could lose millions behind this. So it's like
not that I want it to be true, but I
hope it is truth. If this is already probably going
to cause dis must damage to not only her reputation
but her pockets, well.
Speaker 2 (32:01):
We are going to be watching and we will keep
you posted, guys, because this story is just wow. Like them,
I said, like the flames just keep getting higher and higher,
and I was like one day That's what I was like,
Tina Knowles is involved? What is happening here? You know,
like not Beyonce's law. That's what you said.
Speaker 1 (32:18):
We got to talk about it, yes, because.
Speaker 2 (32:20):
I said the queen's mother. This was like, Beyonce is
my queen and her mother Tina like who birthed her?
When she speaks out, you know you need to listen.
So I feel like we're gonna hear more about it, Like,
definitely comment and let us know what are your thoughts
on this? Did you believe it right when it came out?
Whose side are you on? Let us know. You can
follow us at l I Spanguish on social media, hit me.
Speaker 1 (32:43):
Up on a gram. I am honey German. I'm down
to discuss this topic from all different angles because I
have opinions.
Speaker 2 (32:49):
Oh definitely, and you can hit me up at the
real Carolina on all social media. Guys, thank you so
much for joining us and for liking and subscribing. You know,
we give you a new episode every Friday, so make
sure you join it next week.
Speaker 1 (33:01):
Please see Lifeence Banglish is a production of Life Pence
Banguished Productions in partnership with Iheart'smkunturda Podcast Network,
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