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Author: BBC News

  • Rapper Tory Lanez sentenced to 10 years for shooting Megan Thee Stallion

    Rapper Tory Lanez sentenced to 10 years for shooting Megan Thee Stallion

    He was found guilty on three gun-related charges in December and has been held in jail since.

    Canadian rapper Tory Lanez has been sentenced to 10 years for the shooting of fellow musician Megan Thee Stallion.

    Lanez shot Grammy winner Megan Thee Stallion in the feet during an argument between the pair after a party in 2020.

    He was found guilty on three gun-related charges in December and has been held in jail since.

    The shooting left Megan Thee Stallion needing surgery to remove bullet fragments from her foot.

    The LA District Attorney said after the verdict that the fact that she is famous helped bring attention to the issue of violence against women.

    “The fact that she is a successful entertainer has brought an important spotlight on the issue of violence against women,” said prosecutor George Gascón.

    The shooting occurred during the journey home from a pool party hosted by reality star Kylie Jenner.

    Prosecutors had asked the judge to impose a 13-year prison sentence. They said Lanez deserved a lengthy sentence for shooting a “vulnerable victim” on a quiet residential street, and for waging “a campaign to humiliate and re-traumatise her” after the attack.

    Director of Victim Services at the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office, Tanishia Wright, told reporters after the sentencing hearing: “Violence against black women and girls is a long-standing national epidemic that has long been overlooked and under-reported.”

    “Women of colour more times than not do not come forward to report victimisation due to the fear they will not be believed,” she continued.

    Lanez, real name Daystar Peterson, has had seven US top 10 albums in the past seven years.

    He was convicted of three felonies last December: assault with a semi-automatic firearm; having a loaded, unregistered firearm in a vehicle; and discharging a firearm with gross negligence. The 31-year-old has been in custody since being found guilty.

    His lawyers argued he should get probation and time in a drug treatment programme. It is unclear if Lanez is now facing deportation to Canada.

    His lawyer, Jose Baez, said his client plans to appeal the sentence due to “significant issues” with the trial.

    Outside court on Tuesday, he cited a lack of DNA evidence against Lanez in relation to the shooting, adding that the rapper’s DNA was not found on the gun used.

    Baez added that he believes Lanez did not receive a fair trial.

    In a victim impact statement read in court on Monday, Megan, a triple Grammy winner, said she will “never be the same” after the attack.

    “Since I was viciously shot by the defendant, I have not experienced a single day of peace,” the statement said, according to US media.

    “Slowly but surely, I’m healing and coming back, but I will never be the same.”

    Other witnesses who spoke on Monday included Lanez’s father, who talked emotionally about the effect on his son of the death of his mother when he was 11, and a prison chaplain who said Lanez had been leading daily prayer groups.

    The judge said he had received more than 70 letters in support of Lanez from his family and friends, including rapper Iggy Azalea, who called for a sentence that would be “transformative, not life-destroying”.

    The shooting happened when the pair left Jenner’s home with his bodyguard and her friend and assistant Kelsey Harris in an SUV in the early hours of 12 July 2020.

    Megan, real name Megan Pete, told the court she got into an argument with Lanez over their previous sexual relationship. The row escalated and led to the pair insulting each other’s careers.

    She said she demanded to be let out of the vehicle, at which point Lanez started shooting at the ground and shouted at her to “dance”.

    Lanez has maintained his innocence, with his lawyers suggesting Ms Harris may have shot her friend after discovering the relationship because she had a “crush” on him and was jealous.

    Ms Harris denied that. However, on the witness stand she backtracked on previous statements that Lanez was the shooter, instead telling the trial she did not see who shot Megan.

  • William Friedkin, director of The Exorcist, dies at 87

    William Friedkin, director of The Exorcist, dies at 87

    William Friedkin, director of the classic horror film The Exorcist, died on Monday at the age of 87.

    His widow Sherry Lansing told the BBC through tears: “He had a wonderful life. He was almost 88 – he has a new movie coming out.

    “He was the most wonderful husband in the world. He was the most wonderful father in the world. He had a big wonderful, life. There was no dream unfulfilled.”

    Friedkin died in Los Angeles on Monday.

    No cause of death has yet been confirmed. The director was said to have suffered health issues in recent years.

    His other famous films included crime thriller The French Connection, which won five Academy Awards including best director.

    Tributes from celebrities and fans began pouring in over social media.

    On X, formerly known as Twitter, actor Elijah Wood wrote: “Aww man…a true cinematic master whose influence will continue to extend forever. So long, William Friedkin.”

    Friedkin died before his latest movie, The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial, could hit screens at the Venice Film Festival beginning on 30 August.

    Though his career started in the early 1960s, his most notable success came in the following decade with the release of 1971’s The French Connection.

    The film’s five Oscars included best picture, and best actor for Gene Hackman.

    The Exorcist, released in 1973, had audiences horrified and entranced by the story of a 12-year-old girl possessed by the devil.

    News media at the time reported cinemagoers fainting and vomiting in their seats, and people leaving the theatre shaking and screaming.

    The film is reported to have grossed $500m (£391m) worldwide. It was nominated for 10 Oscars, winning two, and spawned multiple sequels.

    The latest, titled The Exorcist: The Believer, is scheduled for release in October this year. It was directed by David Gordon Green, who helmed the most recent three films in the Halloween franchise.

    Friedkin, for his part, was historically not a fan of remakes of the film.

    At one point he said: “All of them are ridiculous… what I’ve seen of them, they want to make me vomit as the little girl vomits in the movie.”

    When told by the interviewer that his version of The Exorcist was the best, Friedkin replied: “By far the best? The others don’t even exist.”

    Friedkin suffered a decline in form just a few years after The Exorcist, his biggest box office success.

    Sorcerer, released in 1977, had an estimated budget of $22m but drew barely $6m in box office sales. US media called it a “flop”.

    Still, his wider filmmaking legacy remains cherished by critics and audiences alike.

    Simpsons producer Mike Reiss remembered how the show made “a parody of his film Sorcerer”, and that Friedkin “charmed everyone, and even wound up as a guest star”.

    The director is survived by his widow, Ms Lansing – a former studio chief at Paramount Pictures who was his fourth wife – and two sons.

    “The family is obviously very upset,” Stephen Galloway, a friend of Friedkin’s and the dean of Dodge College of Film and Media Arts, told the BBC. “He literally just finished making a new movie.”

    “His mind was just so sharp, always. And mixed with a kind of wicked mischievous humour. The films that he made in the 70s, they still stand out.”

  • 24 killed after minibus plunges down Morocco ravine

    24 killed after minibus plunges down Morocco ravine

    Twenty four people have died in Morocco after the minibus they were travelling in plunged down a ravine in a mountainous area.

    The cause of the accident on the road to the town of Demnate, at the foot of the Atlas Mountain, remains unknown.

    While Morocco has a poor road-safety record, it is reported to be one of the country’s deadliest accidents.

    A picture of the aftermath shows a battered vehicle on its side at the bottom of a slope.

    “All passengers are dead,” Youseff Makhloufi, director of the Demnate hospital, said.

    Two women and a child were among the victims.

    In 2020, an average of eight people a day died on Morocco’s roads, according to the International Transport Forum.

    In March this year, 11 people died when their vehicle hit a tree in a rural part of Morocco.

    A year ago, 23 people died when the bus they were in overturned on a bend east of Casablanca.

    In 2020, Morocco established the National Road Safety Agency to co-ordinate its road-safety strategy.

  • “Barbie” film hits 1B at global box office

    “Barbie” film hits 1B at global box office

    The “Barbie” film has hit the billion-dollar mark just 17 days after it was released, according to distributor Warner Bros.

    The movie will finish the weekend with $1.03bn (£808m) in ticket sales at the global box office, it said in a statement on Sunday.

    It means Greta Gerwig has become the first woman to reach the milestone as a solo director.

    Warner Bros described it as a “watershed moment”.

    Jeff Goldstein, president of domestic distribution in the US, said: “No-one but Greta Gerwig could have brought this cross-generational icon and her world to life in such a funny, emotional and entertaining story… literally turning the entire world pink.”

    He said that long lines in cinemas and repeat viewings “prove that movies are back” after the cinema industry suffered due to pandemic lockdowns and competition from streamers.

    Michael De Luca and Pam Abdy, co-chairs and bosses of Warner Bros Motion Picture Group, described audiences as “embracing the Barbie movie in a profound way”.

    The pink-hued film has received praise from critics and inspired scores of selfies at doll boxes installed in cinemas across the UK too.

    Starring Margot Robbie as Barbie and Ryan Gosling as Ken, it has drawn in $459m so far in the US and $572m internationally.

    Achieving “Barbillion” – as described by Warner Bros – is no mean feat. Just five other films have done so since the pandemic, including The Super Mario Brothers Movie earlier this year, Spider-Man: No Way Home, Top Gun: Maverick, Jurassic World Dominion and the Avatar sequel.

    Cinema-goers have often paired a viewing of Barbie, which tells a coming-of-age story of the iconic doll, with Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer – a story about the development of the first atomic bomb.

    UK-based cinema chain Vue recently said both films had led to the firm seeing its busiest weekend in four years.

    Margot Robbie also served as one of the producers on Barbie. According to an interview with Collider, she banked on making a billion dollars in early meetings.

    “I think I told them that it’d make a billion dollars, which maybe I was overselling, but we had a movie to make, okay?!” she told the publication.

    The film’s marketing campaign has been huge, with pink billboards installed in cities around the world while a pink Tardis also appeared at Tower Bridge.

    Toy-maker Mattel is hoping to repeat the same success with other films.

    Other Mattel brands – including Barney, Hot Wheels and Polly Pocket – are set to feature in upcoming Hollywood movies.

    It released a soundtrack album and entered into more than 165 consumer product partnerships for the Barbie film, although it recently reported that its sales fell by 12% for the three months to end of June.

  • Uganda paternity testing causes huge controversy

    Uganda paternity testing causes huge controversy

    With reports of a sharp increase in the number of men in Uganda seeking paternity tests, fears are growing it could break up families and leave children psychologically scarred.

    The issue has been a hot topic of debate in the country since a tabloid newspaper published a story claiming that a well-known business tycoon – who had several wives and mistresses – had a row with one of his spouses, prompting him to request paternity tests that reportedly said he was the biological father of only 15 of his 25 children.

    The tycoon and his family have never commented publicly, and the report has not been independently verified.

    But the story spread like wildfire and has caused huge controversy over the last few months, prompting some lawmakers to make an emotional appeal to men to stop putting their families and children through the trauma of tests.

    “Let’s live like our forefathers lived. The child born in the house is your child,” Minister of Mineral Development Sarah Opendi said in parliament. Although she qualified her statement by adding that if a man wanted a paternity test it should be done when a child is born – not when they are grown up.

    Most worryingly, the privately owned Monitor newspaper reported that testing has caused domestic violence, with police arresting an Israeli national living in Uganda for allegedly killing his wife after DNA results showed that he was not the father of their six-month-old child. The man has not yet been charged.

    Speaking in mid-July, Ministry of Internal Affairs spokesman Simon Mundeyi said there had been a 10-fold increase in requests for tests, which require taking the DNA of the father and child.

    “We used to have on average 10 applicants daily at our government analytical lab. We are now averaging 100 daily and the numbers are still increasing,” he added.

    Private clinics also cashed in on the trend, putting up advertisements on the back of taxis and on billboards offering tests.

    This raised concern that results may turn out to be wrong, especially after reports surfaced that suspected fake testing kits had been smuggled into Uganda.

    The Ministry of Health stepped in to restrict testing to just three state-run laboratories – though the director of public health, Daniel Kyabayinze, said there was more social media hype than a surge in testing.

    Nevertheless, steps were being taken to ensure that families received counselling and psychological support when tests were done.

    “We have seen social media messages where people think paternity tests are disruptive to families and can cause gender-based violence. We want to make sure that doesn’t happen because of the result which is given,” Dr Kyabayinze told the BBC.

    Public opinion has been split in the debate that has raged across Uganda – from bars to Parliament; taxis to Twitter, now known as X.

    Expressing his support for tests, Kampala resident Bwette Brian told the BBC: “I think the man has the right to know whether the children are his or not. Children are responsibilities and every child must know the family they are attached to.”

    Disagreeing, another resident, Tracy Nakubulwa, said: “I have seen happy marriages and families separate all due to the issue of paternity testing – and children are becoming victims.”

    Human rights activist Lindsey Kukunda said the fact that wives sometimes secretly have a relationship with another man, to give her husband a child, “is not new”.

    “Our ancestors did it, our grandparents did it, our mothers did it,” she said.

    She points out that when couples have difficulty having children, it is often the man who has fertility problems, whereas “in African culture, if a woman can’t provide a man with children, she will be divorced or thrown out of the house”.

    “So what these men don’t realise is that the woman that has provided them with children has slept with another man – to give you the child you desire.”

    Ms Kukunda accused husbands who seek paternity tests of double-standards.

    “It is common for men to have affairs and bring home children – but the wives raise these children as their own,” she said.

    Microbiologist Freddie Bwanga said the state laboratory where he works has not seen a major increase in requests for testing, but greater awareness now exists around the issue.

    His experience over the years shows that 60-70% of tests prove a biological link between the father and child.

    As for the 30% to 40% who found they were not, the outcome was often beneficial in “helping children to be settled where they are born”.

    And, some would argue, testing is better than relying on age-old cultural practices – like smearing cow fat on the umbilical cord, and putting it in a woven basket filled with water.

    If it then floats – a cultural researcher pointed out to Uganda’s Monitor newspaper – it means the child belonged to the family.

    But Uganda’s state minister for primary health care said there was no need for men to seek paternity tests.

    “Anything that you don’t know can’t kill you. If you don’t know that this is not your child, it won’t break your heart. But when you find out your heart will be broken,” Margaret Muhanga said.

     

  • US approves postpartum depression pill

    US approves postpartum depression pill

    The US has approved the first pill for postpartum depression.

    The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said zuranolone, sold under the brand name Zurzuvae, has been approved as a once-daily pill taken for two weeks.

    Until now, treatment for postpartum depression (PPD) was available only as an intravenous injection, the FDA said.

    Drug manufacturers Sage Therapeutics and Biogen said the pill is expected to be available later this year. No price has yet been announced.

    Similar to other forms of depression, symptoms of postpartum depression (PPD) can include sadness, loss of energy, suicidal thoughts, decreased ability to feel pleasure, or cognitive impairment, according to the FDA.

    It is estimated that one in seven women experience symptoms of PPD in the US, research has found.

    “Postpartum depression is a serious and potentially life-threatening condition in which women experience sadness, guilt, worthlessness—even, in severe cases, thoughts of harming themselves or their child,” said Tiffany Farchione, head of psychiatry in the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research.

    “And, because postpartum depression can disrupt the maternal-infant bond, it can also have consequences for the child’s physical and emotional development.”

    Access to an oral medication will be beneficial for many women “coping with extreme, and sometimes life-threatening, feelings”, she added.

    Clinical trials showed the pill helped to significantly reduce depressive symptoms within three days. The effect of the medication was maintained at four weeks after the last dose, the FDA said.

    It noted that the most common side-effects from taking Zurzuvae can include drowsiness, dizziness, diarrhoea, fatigue, the common cold, and urinary tract infection.

    The agency said labelling contains a boxed warning noting that Zurzuvae can affect a person’s ability to drive and perform other potentially hazardous activities. It recommends patients should not drive or operate heavy machinery for at least 12 hours after taking it.

    Sage Therapeutics and Biogen had also sought approval to use zuranolone for major depressive disorder (MDD), or clinical depression. However, the FDA said the medication did not provide substantial evidence of effectiveness and said an additional study or studies would be needed.

    The companies said they were evaluating their next steps.

    Sage Therapeutic said it was “highly disappointed for patients, particularly amid the current mental health crisis and millions of people with MDD struggling to find symptom relief.”

  • Pakistan ex-PM Khan given three-year jail sentence

    Pakistan ex-PM Khan given three-year jail sentence

    Ousted Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan given three-year jail sentence over corruption allegations he denies.

    A court in Islamabad found him guilty of not declaring money he had earned from selling state gifts.

    The judge ordered his immediate arrest and his lawyer Intazar Hussain told Reuters news agency the former PM had been taken into custody from his home in Lahore.

    Mr Khan’s team says he will appeal against the decision.

     

  • Lizzo responds to weight-shaming and sexual assault suit

    Lizzo responds to weight-shaming and sexual assault suit

    US pop star Lizzo has said allegations by three of her ex-dancers, including sexual harassment and creating a hostile work environment, are “false”.

    The singer called the last few days “gut-wrenchingly difficult and overwhelmingly disappointing”.

    “Usually I choose not to respond to false allegations but these are as unbelievable as they sound, and too outrageous to not be addressed.”

    The dancers told the BBC Lizzo is “less of a villain and more of an anti-hero”.

    Arianna Davis, Crystal Williams and Noelle Rodriguez are the former dancers bringing the case against the singer, her dance captain and her production company Big Grrrl Big Touring (BGBT).

    The lawsuit also includes accusations of religious and racial harassment, along with discrimination, assault and false imprisonment.

    The legal action, filed in Los Angeles on Tuesday, includes allegations the dancers were pressured into attending sex shows and interacting with the dancers at the shows between 2021 and 2023.

    What did Lizzo say?

    “These last few days have been gut-wrenchingly difficult and overwhelmingly disappointing. My work ethic, morals and respectfulness have been questioned. My character has been criticized.

    Usually, I choose not to respond to false allegations but these are as unbelievable as they sound and too outrageous to not be addressed. These sensationalized stories are coming from former employees who have already publicly admitted that they were told their behaviour on tour was inappropriate and unprofessional.

    “As an artist, I have always been very passionate about what I do. I take my music and my performances seriously because at the end of the day I only want to put out the best art that represents me and my fans.

    With passion comes hard work and high standards. Sometimes I have to make hard decisions but it’s never my intention to make anyone feel uncomfortable or like they aren’t valued as an important part of the team.

    “I am not here to be looked at as a victim, but I also know that I am not the villain that people and the media have portrayed me to be these last few days. I am very open with my sexuality and expressing myself but I cannot accept or allow people to use that openness to make me out to be something I am not.

    There is nothing I take more seriously than the respect we deserve as women in the world. I know what it feels like to be body shamed on a daily basis and would absolutely never criticize or terminate an employee because of their weight.

    “I’m hurt but I will not let the good work I’ve done in the world be overshadowed by this. I want to thank everyone who has reached out in support to lift me up during this difficult time.”

    Lizzo wrote in a statement posted on Thursday.

    Responding to Lizzo’s statement saying she had been “portrayed” as “the villain”, Ms Davis told the BBC: “She’s less of a villain and more of an anti-hero to me… a villain is someone with no redeemable qualities. They are just bad and evil and terrible.

    “But an anti-hero is someone who does bad things but had redeemable qualities. Do I think Lizzo can take this, and change and be who she says she is? Yes, absolutely.

    “I want her to be who she said she was when I first met her, I don’t we don’t want this to be some sort of tear-down campaign for her, we want justice to be served, people to be heard and then we want change to be made. I do believe she’s capable of that change.”

    Ms Rodriguez added: “I don’t think she’s a villain necessarily, but I do think she needs to be held accountable for all the things she has done, or enabled, and created this environment. I think it’s time that we start holding people accountable for that – it happens way too often.”

    Ms Williams responded by saying she want “conversations to be had not about who’s the villain – what was done is what was done – we went through a traumatic experience, it’s something that happens way too often in the entertainment industry, especially in regard to dancers.

    “Change needs to be made, so I’m hoping that with this, accountability can be had, and things will be put in place to ensure this kind of thing hopefully doesn’t happen.”

    The dancers also spoke about why they made went public with their complaints, and Ms Williams said it had been “a last resort” and was a “worst-case scenario”.

    “There were several attempts made to try to handle this privately,” she told the BBC. “I know that the dance cast as a collective attempted to hold meetings not only with her [Lizzo] but with management to bring forth our grievances. And it was met with ‘we can’t do it today’ or cancellation, so it wasn’t that we didn’t make an effort.

    “We tried to handle this in-house as much as we possibly could. But nobody wanted to hear us out so this was absolutely a last resort.”

    Ms Davis said that “management promised to have a Zoom meeting with us after we left Europe – never happened”, while Ms Rodriguez added: “It is our last resort.”

    Among the claims against Lizzo – whose real name is Melissa Viviane Jefferson – are that she “pressured Ms Davis to touch the breasts” of a performer in a nightclub in Amsterdam, and Ms Davis – after resisting – eventually acquiesced “fearing it may harm her future on the team” if she didn’t do so.

    Ms Davis and Ms Williams were fired from the dance team, while Ms Rodriguez later resigned over the alleged treatment of her fellow colleagues.

    Lizzo – who is known for celebrating her body and self-love – is also accused, along with dance choreographer Tanisha Scott, of fat-shaming Ms Davis on tour.

    “In professional dance, a dancer’s weight gain is often seen as that dancer getting lazy or worse off as a performer. Lizzo’s and Ms Scott’s questions about Ms Davis’s commitment to the tour were thinly veiled concerns about Ms Davis’s weight gain,” the documents allege.

    The dancers allege that “only the dance cast – comprised of full-figured women of colour – were ever spoken to in this manner, giving [the dancers] the impression that these comments were charged with racial and fat-phobic animus”.

    Additionally, the lawsuit alleges the dance team’s captain, Shirlene Quigley, pushed her Christian beliefs on performers and derided those who engaged in premarital sex.

    She is also accused of openly discussing one of the former dancers’ virginity, and posting about it on social media.

    Accusations including racial discrimination are also levelled at BGBT’s management team.

    It alleges black members of the dance troupe were “treated differently” from other members of the team.

    Ms Quigley has been contacted for comment by the BBC.

    On Wednesday Ms Williams told CBS she wanted to ensure that other dancers who work with Lizzo “don’t have to go through that same experience”.

  • Thousands march to back Niger coup

    Thousands march to back Niger coup

    Thousands of people have taken to the streets of Niger’s capital, Niamey, in support of last week’s military coup.

    They condemned West African countries who have imposed sanctions on the country, and also demanded the departure of foreign troops.

    Both US and France have military bases in the country to help fight Islamist militants.

    A similar protest on Sunday led to attacks on the French embassy but Thursday’s demonstration was peaceful.

    France, the former colonial power in Niger, had called on the military leader to ensure there was no repeat.

    Previous demonstrations had seen some chanting “Long live Russia”, “Long live Putin”, and “Down with France” – the leader of Russia’s Wagner mercenary group has reportedly described the coup as a triumph.

    But organisers had asked people not to wave Russian flags this time, and there were far fewer on display compared to Sunday. People had Nigerien flags instead.

    It isn’t clear if this was because Russia has issued a statement calling for the return to power of the ousted president, Mohamed Bazoum, and negotiations, or because Thursday is Niger’s Independence Day.

    Mr Bazoum, the first democratically elected president to succeed another in Niger, was detained by his own guards last week.

    The Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas), a trade bloc of 15 West African countries, has imposed financial and trade sanctions. It has also threatened to use force if President Bazoum is not reinstated by Sunday.

    Senegal on Thursday said it would send troops if the bloc decided on military intervention. Foreign Minister Aissata Tall Sall said there had been one “coup too many” in the region. The army has seized power in neighbouring Mali, Burkina Faso and Guinea in recent years.

    “Senegalese soldiers, for all these reasons, will go there,” she said.

    Niger’s electricity company says that neighbouring Nigeria has cut electricity supplies, leading to widespread power cuts, although this has not been confirmed by Nigeria.

    On Wednesday evening, coup leader Gen Abdourahmane Tchiani warned against “any interference in the internal affairs” of the country.

    Gen Tchiani, a former chief of the presidential guard to Mr Bazoum, seized power on 26 July.

    In a televised address on Wednesday, Gen Tchiani said the military regime rejected the Ecowas “sanctions as a whole and refuses to give in to any threat, wherever it comes from”.

    He labelled the sanctions “cynical and iniquitous” and said they were intended to “humiliate” Niger’s security forces and make the country “ungovernable”.

    Hundreds of foreign nationals have been evacuated from Niger. The US has ordered a partial evacuation of its embassy and more than 1,000 French and Europeans have been flown out of the country.

  • Lizzo accused of sexual harassment and weight-shaming

    Lizzo accused of sexual harassment and weight-shaming

    One suit alleges that Lizzo “pressured Ms Davis to touch the breasts” of a performer.

    Pop star Lizzo is being sued by three of her former dancers over claims including sexual harassment and a hostile work environment.

    The lawsuit, filed on Tuesday, includes accusations of sexual, religious and racial harassment, discrimination, assault and false imprisonment.

    Arianna Davis, Crystal Williams and Noelle Rodriguez are the former dancers bringing the lawsuit.

    Lizzo and others who are accused have been approached for comment.

    The lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles, includes allegations the dancers were “forced to endure sexually denigrating behaviour” and were “pressured into participating in disturbing sex shows” between 2021 and 2023.

    Among the claims against Lizzo – whose real name is Melissa Viviane Jefferson – are that she “pressured Ms Davis to touch the breasts” of a performer in a nightclub in Amsterdam, and Ms Davis – after resisting – eventually acquiesced “fearing it may harm her future on the team” if she didn’t do so.

    Lizzo – who is known for celebrating her body and self-love – is also accused, along with dance choreographer Tanisha Scott, of weight-shaming Ms Davis on tour.

    Ms Davis alleges the two questioned whether she was “struggling with something as she seemed less committed to her role on the dance cast”, the lawsuit details.

    Though never explicitly stated, the questions “gave Ms Davis the impression that she needed to explain her weight gain and disclose intimate personal details about her life in order to keep her job”, the lawsuit says.

    Additionally, the lawsuit alleges the dance team’s captain, Shirlene Quigley, pushed her Christian beliefs on performers and derided those who engaged in premarital sex.

    She is also accused of openly discussing one of the former dancers’ virginity, and posting about it on social media.

    Accusations including racial discrimination are also levelled at production company Big Grrrl Big Touring, Inc.’s management team.

    It alleges black members of the dance troop were “treated differently” to other members of the team.

    They were accused of being “lazy, unprofessional, and having bad attitudes” – the lawsuit claimed these are tropes often used “to disparage and discourage” black women and that other dancers were not treated like this.

    The plaintiffs also allege Lizzo and the production company team did not pay them fairly while on parts of Lizzo’s European tour.

    They claim they were offered only 25% of their weekly compensatory pay during their time not performing on the tour, while other performers received 50% and they also claim they were told not to work on other projects while on tour.

    Two of the three dancers involved in the lawsuit, Ms Davis and Ms Williams, met Lizzo in March 2021 while preparing to compete on the reality TV show Lizzo’s Watch Out for the Big Grrrls, the lawsuit says.

    The third, Ms Rodriguez, was hired later in May 2021 to perform in Lizzo’s Rumours music video. She then remained part of the dance troop, it adds.

    Ms Davis and Ms Williams were fired from the dance team, while Ms Rodriguez later resigned over the alleged treatment of her fellow colleagues.