Lizzo dancers raised concerns about inclusion in Love, Lizzo documentary

The increased scrutiny on the relationship between musical superstar Lizzo and the people in her employ has revealed another point of contention this week, as The L.A. Times reports that 14 dancers who worked with the performer at the 2019 Video Music Awards ended up in a dispute with the producers of MAX’s Love, Lizzo documentary last year over their inclusion in the film. The dancers appear on-stage in the documentary, performing alongside Lizzo—but also in behind-the-scenes footage, where they talk about the difficulties of being a female, plus-size Black dance artist. According to legal documents viewed by the Times, the manager for the dancers in question said they were never told that the behind-the-scenes footage would be included in a movie about Lizzo.

The incident in question was resolved earlier this year, pre-dating the current situation—in which Lizzo has been accused by three dancers of creating a hostile work environment, along with allegations of sexual harassment—by several months. Said resolution came after what was apparently a protracted series of negotiations between producer Boardwalk Pictures and the dancers. (An unnamed “Lizzo entity” was also reportedly involved, per Pitchfork.) At the time, though, the dancers’ manager, Slay Smiles, asserted that the dancers had been “exploited” by the film’s production, writing, “This was supposed to be a safe space to express and share with the Principal talent [Lizzo], so by sharing this unauthorized footage to the public without their approval/permissions, has truly exploited these women and violated the emotional safety they had in those moments.”

Love, Lizzo, which came out this year, has already become a component of the current controversy: Shortly after the allegations came out, the film’s original director, Sophia Nahil Allison, made public statements saying she’d dropped out of making it after finding the artist to be “arrogant, self-centered, and unkind.”

Lizzo’s attorney, Martin Singer, issued a statement on the situation surrounding the VMA dancers today, saying that the film’s production company ultimately resolved the situation by making payments to the dancers, and that “Lizzo had nothing to do with it and knew nothing about it.”