Lizzo is facing another kind of heat after new information emerged online, unearthing a settlement that took place between 14 of her dancers and her production team for supposedly not paying the dancers fairly for their appearance in her documentary "Love Lizzo."
The documentary which featured some of the dancers was initially not compensated for appearing, signed confidentiality agreements, without knowing that they could charge more for their appearance in the supposed empowering documentary.
Lizzo Dancers Not Paid Fairly For 'Love Lizzo' Documentary
According to an exposé published by The Los Angeles Times, 14 of Lizzo's dancers settled to an agreement after they were blindsided that they would appear in her "Love Lizzo" documentary in 2022.
They were made aware of this when the clearance producer reached out to one of the dancers, Latasha Bryant, that they would give them $350 + 10% agency fee for appearing on the docu. This was the first time that they heard of this.
Slay Smiles, the manager of the said 14 dancers, sent an email to Boardwalk Pictures, the co-producer of the "Love Lizzo" documentary, expressing her frustration knowing that her dancers have not given their consent to having footage of them being included in the "Love Lizzo" documentary.
"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," she said in the email.
In an attempt to settle the matter, Lizzo's team had the dancers sign confidentiality agreements asking them not to talk about the matter anymore.
READ MORE : Lizzo 'Harassed' Dancers Returned To Work On Her Tour Despite Feeling 'Violated' During Amsterdam Incident
Lizzo Dancers Paid Less Initially For 'Love Lizzo' Documentary
However, Bryant, thought that the offer was small compared to what she had offered before, so she sought the help of Slay Smiles, to dispute the initial payment terms - following the email.
After months of negotiations, Boardwalk came to an agreement and settled with the 14 dancers who only initially received $350 each, now receiving between $7,092 and $7,545 depending on their exposure and roles in the "Love Lizzo" documentary.
Meanwhile, Lizzo's lawyer said that Lizzo was not involved in the said dispute as it was a matter between the production company and the dancers.
"Lizzo had nothing to do with it and knew nothing about it," Martin Singer, Lizzo's lawyer told The Los Angeles Times.
The 14 dancers weren't part of the three backup dancers who sued Lizzo earlier this August 2023 for a hostile working environment among many other damaging claims.
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