Lizzo has played her first live show for nearly two years, telling fans she came though a “dark depression” after being sued and accused of harassment by three of her former dancers.
Performing in Los Angeles, the Grammy winner told the crowd she went through a period where she “didn’t want to live any more”.
In 2023, three of Lizzo’s former tour dancers sued the US pop star, accusing her of sexual harassment and fat-shaming. The star denied the claims but the dancers are requesting a jury trial.
She has also been involved in a legal battle with a stylist who claimed she was subjected to racial and sexual harassment and a hostile work environment.
Famous for hits including Truth Hurts and About Damn Time, Lizo is now on the comback trail with two new singles.
She told the crowd at LA’s The Wiltern on Wednesday that a stranger at a concert she attended had given her a “life-saving moment” by hugging her and saying they loved her.
“Then it was 10 people, then 100… then 1,000… then it was 10,000 people showering me with love and support – this is the kind of love you can only get in real life,” she said, in a video captured on TikTok.
She urged anyone else going through depression to “reach out”, adding: ” I say it because it’s so hard to do.”
Lizzo came under scrutiny in August 2023 after the dancers filed their legal action, which included accusations of sexual, religious and racial harassment, discrimination, assault, false imprisonment and creating a hostile work environment.
In a statement at the time, Lizzo denied the allegations, saying: “These sensationalised stories are coming from former employees who have already publicly admitted that they were told their behaviour on tour was inappropriate and unprofessional.”
The star and her Big Grrrl Big Touring company have requested that the court dismiss the dancers’ allegations.
In December 2024, she won a key ruling in a separate legal battle with the stylist, who claimed she was subjected to racial and sexual harassment and a hostile work environment by members of the singer’s management team while on tour in 2023, as well as unpaid overtime.
An LA federal judge ruled that wardrobe assistant Asha Daniels could not sue the singer as an individual, but Big Grrrl Big Touring remains a defendant in the ongoing case.
Lizzo has more gigs planned this month in New York and Minneapolis.
