Lizzo says a “public attack” hurt her career, but the fallout from her lawsuit may explain why her fans have changed their minds

Lizzo talked about radio, streaming, and public debate when a fan asked her where her audience from when she played in arenas went. The court record makes it clear why that answer was powerful.

Lizzo is giving fans a direct answer to the question they keep asking about her progress. In a new response on X, the singer discussed the streaming era and what she called a “public attack” on her career. This phrase brings up the Lizzo cases, which changed how people thought about one of pop’s biggest feel-good brands. 

A fan began the conversation by writing, “It’s so weird to me that Lizzo has no fan base when this woman was selling out arenas not even two years ago.” “Like, where did those people go?”

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Lizzo answered straight away:

“I can answer that: the business has changed a lot in the last three years. Streaming music has replaced radio, and I loved radio.” That’s how my fans found my songs. It also changed things when someone attacked my job in a very public way. “But I’m already out here doing my best, so don’t be mean about it,” she wrote.

Lizzo sent out a tweet with a love emoji saying that the music business has changed a lot in three years, that fans found her music, that public attacks have changed things, and that she’s doing her best. The answer from Jay is shown below.

Lizzo’s rise was made for a different machine, so that answer works. Radio could play her songs over and over again until people all over the country caught on. Music videos for her 2023 arena tour say that “Truth Hurts” was No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for seven weeks, “About Damn Time” was also No. 1, and “Special” hit No. 2 on the Billboard 200.

But the music business she talks about has changed rapidly. It was the third year in a row that streaming made up 84% of U.S. recorded music sales, while downloads only made up 2%, according to the RIAA. TikTok and Luminate both said that 84% of songs that made it to the Billboard Global 200 in 2024 first went popular on TikTok. This means that finding isn’t just about radio hosts beating a record anymore. It’s tracks, clips, fan edits, algorithms, and how far the internet wants to take you that week. 

However, the streaming answer doesn’t provide a complete picture. It wasn’t clear what Lizzo meant when she talked about a “public attack” on her business in that X reply. But what we know for sure is that many lawsuits and public accusations were made by former employees in 2023, beginning with three dancers.

The lawsuit was filed in August 2023 by Arianna Davis, Crystal Williams, Noelle Rodriguez, and Melissa Viviane Jefferson, who goes by the stage name Lizzo. It also included Big Grrrl Big Touring Inc. and Shirlene Quigley, who is the dance leader. The lawsuit claimed harassment based on race, religion, or sexuality, as well as disability discrimination, assault, and false imprisonment. The complaint also said that Lizzo forced dancers to interact with naked performers on a night out in Amsterdam. Additionally, it claimed that Black dancers were being unfairly treated and paid less than white dancers by BGBT management. 

When the claims were made, Lizzo wrote that they were “as unbelievable as they sound and too outrageous to leave unaddressed.” She also said, “I refuse to be seen as a victim, but I also know I’m not the bad guy that people and the media have made me out to be these last few days.”

Then there was another case. In September 2023, Asha Daniels, a former worker in the clothing department, sued Lizzo, BGBT, and others, saying she was harassed at work because of her race or sexuality; her disability; her firing for no reason was illegal; she was assaulted; and she wasn’t paid. Daniels said she had to work very long hours, saw dancers changing in public with little privacy, and heard sexist remarks about Black women on tour. She was laid off after reporting these problems, she said. Stefan Friedman, Lizzo’s spokesman, called the lawsuit a “bogus, absurd publicity stunt lawsuit” and said Daniels had “never actually met or even spoke with Lizzo.” 

Since then, the legal picture has changed, but it’s still there. In February 2024, a judge in Los Angeles County Superior Court let the dancers’ lawsuit go forward but threw out some of the claims. These included claims of fat-shaming, a naked photo shoot, and being made to stay on hold while off tour. There were still more claims, such as sexual harassment, sexual, religious, and racial discrimination, false imprisonment, attack, and claims related to trips to Amsterdam’s Bananenbar and Paris’s Crazy Horse. The person who spoke for Lizzo at the time said that her team was going to appeal the parts of the case that the judge decided to keep. 

Daniels’ lawsuit got smaller too. A federal judge said in December 2024 that Daniels could not sue Lizzo as an individual because she had named Lizzo’s production and payroll companies as her direct employers. Lizzo was no longer involved in that case because of it, but Big Grrrl Big Touring Inc. was still the claimant. 

That is the part that makes Lizzo’s X reply feel bigger than a fanbase argument. Fans are not just asking why a hitmaker’s stats look different. They are asking how an artist who once stood as a public symbol of joy, body confidence, and arena-level pop dominance ended up fighting to reintroduce herself while her name stayed attached to workplace claims she denies.

That’s where the new angle lives. Lizzo may be right that streaming changed the rules. She may also be right that public backlash changed the temperature around her success. But the greatest tension is that both things happened at once. The old radio pipeline, which played a significant role in her success, weakened, while the legal claims added extra weight to every new rollout.

Now, with her latest project “Bitch” arriving as her first record since “Special,” Lizzo is trying to move like the conversation has not fully swallowed the music. Pitchfork stated that the 12-song album was set for a June 5 release and marked her first album since 2022’s “Special.” 

So, the question may be more complex than “where did the fans go?” There may still be some there. Some people may have moved on. Some people might be waiting for the music to get big again. Some people are still clearly watching the cases to figure out how loud they want to cheer.

The court cases changed the conversation and the business, so the comeback has to fight on both fronts. Lizzo’s response reignited the entire discussion.