Lizzo ‘relieved’ after judge dismisses remaining claims in wardrobe assistant’s lawsuit

Lizzo finally gets some good news from the courtroom

Lizzo has reacted after a US federal judge dismissed the remaining claims in a lawsuit brought against her production company, saying she feels “relieved” following the ruling. The case was filed by Asha Daniels, who worked as a wardrobe assistant on Lizzo’s 2023 tour. Daniels accused Big Grrrl Big Touring of subjecting her to a range of alleged mistreatment, including “degradation, forced physical labor, denial of medical care, sexual harassment, and racial harassment”. On Tuesday, US District Judge Fernando L Aenlle-Rocha ruled against Daniels’ remaining claims, bringing the latest stage of the legal dispute to an end.

What the judge said in the Lizzo ruling

The case had already changed significantly in 2024, when Aenlle-Rocha ruled that Daniels could not pursue Lizzo personally. Big Grrrl Big Touring Inc, however, remained part of the lawsuit.

In his latest ruling, the judge said Daniels had not pointed to any actions by the company’s employees that could establish either “general hostility to women in the workplace” or evidence that men and women were treated differently.

He acknowledged that some of the incidents described by Daniels were “inappropriate and unprofessional”, but concluded that they still fell “within the scope of what the Supreme Court has held to be outside the protection” of the “ordinary tribulations of the workplace”.

The judge also addressed Daniels’ claim that a heavy clothing rack had run over her foot. While he said the court did not want to “minimise or disregard the pain” she experienced, he ruled that the injuries she suffered did not meet the legal definition of a disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

What Lizzo said about the ruling

Following the ruling, Lizzo addressed the outcome on Instagram and gave credit to her legal team. The singer, whose real name is Melissa Viviane Jefferson, said she had always maintained that she would not settle the allegations against her and intended to keep defending herself and her businesses. “The truth matters to me more than anything,” she wrote, adding that she had told her followers she would continue fighting “every vicious claim” made against her and her companies. Lizzo also said she planned to continue using her platform to “spread positivity and light to the world”, before ending her message by thanking her supporters and sending them love.