Lizzo has claimed she considered taking her own life in the wake of sexual harassment lawsuits being filed against her in 2023.
The 36-year-old singer, whose real name is Melissa Viviane Jefferson, was hit with multiple allegations in 2023, with several of her former background dancers using the lawsuits to accuse the singer of subjecting them to sexual and racial harassment.
Lizzo has opened up about the impact they had on her mental health to fans during a performance at the Wiltern Theater in Los Angeles, with the singer caught on camera by a concertgoer giving her emotional update.
In footage shared by a fan on X, she said the lawsuits left her so ‘deeply hurt’ she ‘didn’t want to live anymore’.
‘I named [my album Love in Real Life] because about a year and a half ago – it’s so hard for me to talk about – I was in such a dark, deep depression,’ she told fans.
‘I was so heartbroken by the world and so deeply hurt that I didn’t want to live anymore, and I was so deeply afraid of people that I didn’t want to be seen.’
She added: ‘Eventually, I got over that fear.’
Lizzo, whose new video for her single Still Bad dropped on Friday, revealed how a fan’s kind words helped change her perspective in a ‘life-saving’ moment.
‘As I was walking through the crowd to get to my spot, something miraculous happened,’ she said.
‘Somebody, who I didn’t know, looked at me and said, “Lizzo, I love you.” And they reached out, and I reached back, and we hugged, and it felt so damn good.’
She added: ‘After that experience I was like, “Damn, you can’t get this s**t on the Internet, bro. This is the kind of love you can only get in real life.”‘
She has shared her story in the hope of reaching anyone dealing with ‘depression, or darkness, or felt so betrayed by someone they trusted or was lied on and hated on for those lies’.
Lizzo has denied the dancers’ claims against her, branding them ‘outrageous’ and ‘unbelievable’.
After the initial legal filings, six more dancers came forward with similar allegations – and in September, Asha Daniels, a former stylist for Lizzo’s Big Grrrl Big Tour, filed another lawsuit alleging racial and sexual harassment.
In December 2024, it was reported that Asha’s lawsuit had been dropped.
A source close to Lizzo told The New York Post the singer would continue to fight the ‘false’ allegations.
They added: ‘There’s a reason that Lizzo continues to fight long after most public figures would have settled – because these allegations are false and can’t be allowed to stand.
‘She is not going to stop fighting until every single one of these ridiculous smears is dismissed.’
Lizzo still faces multiple ongoing lawsuits filed by former employees who claim sexual and racial harassment and a toxic work environment.
She maintains that the allegations against her are untrue.
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