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Lizzo Says She’s ‘Not The Villain’ After Former Dancers Claim Sexual Harassment

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(LOS ANGELES) – Lizzo stated on Thursday that she is “not the villain” in a sexual harassment lawsuit that three of her former backup dancers wrongfully accuse her of being.

The civil case, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court on Tuesday, claims Lizzo forced the dancers to engage with naked performers at an Amsterdam club and ridiculed one of them for her weight gain before terminating her.

“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,” Lizzo stated in a social media statement. “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.”

The plaintiffs, Arianna Davis, Crystal Williams, and Noelle Rodriguez claimed several allegations, including sexual, religious, and racial harassment, handicap discrimination, assault, and false imprisonment. They accuse the Grammy winner and her production firm of instilling fear among its employees.

Melissa Viviane Jefferson, professionally known as Lizzo, her production business Big Grrrl Big Touring, Inc., and Shirlene Quigley, captain of the performer’s dance team, are named in the civil action, which demands undisclosed damages.

lizzo

Lizzo stated on Thursday that she is “not the villain” in a sexual harassment lawsuit that three of her former backup dancers wrongfully accuse her of being.

“The last few days have been excruciatingly difficult and overwhelmingly discouraging.” My work ethic, morals, and respectability have all been called into doubt. “My character has been chastised,” Lizzo stated in a statement. “Normally, I don’t respond to false allegations, but these are as unbelievable as they sound and far too outrageous to ignore.”

She claimed that the “sensationalized stories” were from former employees “who have already publicly admitted that they were told their behavior on tour was inappropriate and unprofessional.”

According to the court filing, Lizzo and her crew went to a sexually themed show at a club in Amsterdam’s notorious Red Light District after performing a concert, where “Lizzo began inviting cast members to take turns touching the nude performers” and led a chant pressuring Davis to touch the breasts of one of the nude women performing at the club.

“Finally, the chorus became overwhelming, and a mortified Ms. Davis acquiesced in an attempt to stop the chants,” according to the complaint. “Plaintiffs were astounded by Lizzo’s disregard for the bodily autonomy of her employees and those around her, particularly in the presence of a large number of people whom she employed.”

lizzo

Lizzo stated on Thursday that she is “not the villain” in a sexual harassment lawsuit that three of her former backup dancers wrongfully accuse her of being.

Lizzo, who regularly promotes body positivity, is also accused of criticizing Davis for her weight gain after accusing her of being uncommitted to her role. According to the complaint, Davis was fired in May for filming a meeting during which Lizzo distributed notes to dancers regarding their performances.

“Sometimes I have to make difficult decisions, but it is never my intention to make anyone feel uncomfortable or unimportant as a member of the team,” Lizzo explained. “I’m hurt, but I will not let the good work I’ve done in the world be overshadowed by this.”

Quigley, who acted as a judge on the singer’s reality show “Lizzo’s Watch Out for the Big Grrrls,” is accused of imposing her Christian ideas on dancers in the lawsuit. According to the court petition, Quigley called Davis a “non-believer” and told coworkers, “No job and no one will stop me from talking about the Lord.”

Lizzo won the Grammy for Record of the Year earlier this year for her hit tune “About Damn Time.” A world tour promoting her fourth studio album, 2022’s “Special,” concluded last month.

SOURCE – (AP)

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Jason Kelce Smashes Football Fan’s Phone

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Jason Kelce Smashes College Football Fan's Phone

Retired Philadelphia Eagles center Jason Kelce destroyed a Penn State football fan’s phone after the alleged heckler called his brother, Travis Kelce, a fag.

In now-viral footage published on X (previously Twitter) on Saturday, Nov. 2, the retired Philadelphia Eagles great was seen accompanied by football fans outside Beaver Stadium in State College, Pa., for the Penn State-Ohio State game.

As the individual capturing the tape lifted a fist to Jason, 36, and called his name for a fist bump, another man nearby hurled the homophobic slur at the retired Philadelphia Eagles star.

Hey, Kelce. How does it feel that your brother is a queer dating Taylor Swift?” the man questioned, referring to Travis, 34, who has been seeing Swift since 2023. Jason turned around seconds later, snatched the man’s phone, and crushed it to the ground.

“Looked like a Penn State student was getting in Kelce’s face for no reason,” the original X user who submitted the video remarked. “Wild scene in State College.”

Additional footage on X shows Jason smashing the phone on asphalt before picking it up and walking away. The phone’s owner, wearing a Penn State hoodie at the time of the incident, was shown in many videos strolling closely behind Jason and recording him before the conflict occurred.

Another footage published on X, which appears to have been filmed after Jason shattered the man’s phone, showed the hooded Penn State supporter trudging through a mob to pick up his phone off the ground.

“Give me my phone, bro,” he seemed to say to Jason.

The NFL alum seized the gadget first, then stood in front of the man and asked, “Who’s the fag now?” Others appeared to interfere.

The incident occurred while Jason was at Beaver Stadium for an appearance on ESPN’s College GameDay. The Ohio State Buckeyes won Saturday’s game 20-13 over the Penn State Nittany Lions.

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Shaun White’s Proposal To Nina Dobrev Was Romantic Gold

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Shaun White, the Olympic snowboarding champion, already has an impressive medal tally, but his surprise proposal to Nina Dobrev deserves a gold medal.

On Wednesday, the couple announced their engagement on Instagram. Dobrev posted photographs of the two hugging under an arch of white roses and showing off her five-carat Lorraine Schwartz engagement ring.

“RIP boyfriend, hello fiancé,” Dobrev said in the caption.

However, the photographs only tell half the tale, as Shaun devised an elaborate plan to surprise Dobrev with his proposal.

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Shaun White’s Proposal To Nina Dobrev Was Romantic Gold

According to a Vogue interview published Wednesday, Shaun said he assembled a team of people from the couple’s inner circle and Vogue personnel to trick Dobrev into thinking she had been invited to an intimate dinner party with Anna Wintour.

White claimed that his publicist emailed Dobrev a forged invitation to the event, which was scheduled to take place at the Golden Swan in New York City.

Dobrev accepted the invitation, joking that Shaun made it “look so legitimate.”

He even asked Dobrev’s stylist to outfit her in Chanel for the event.

Dobrev said she recognized what was happening when she entered the venue and saw White standing beneath the flowery arch.

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Shaun’s Proposal To Nina Dobrev Was Romantic Gold

“I went into shock,” Dobrev admitted, later adding that White “said all the right things” before she agreed.

According to the publication, after Shaun proposed, the couple partied into the early morning hours with close friends and relatives.

“Best night of my life,” Shaun captioned his Instagram story on Wednesday.

The duo first became romantically involved in 2020, and they have since publicly recorded their relationship, globe vacations, and White’s Olympic farewell on social media.

SOURCE  | CNN

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Hollywood Actress Teri Garr Passes Away at 79

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Hollywood Actress Teri Garr Passes Away at 79
Teri Garr, known for her roles in classics like "Young Frankenstein" and "Tootsie," has passed away at 79.

Hollywood actress Teri Garr, known for her roles in classics like “Young Frankenstein” and “Tootsie,” has passed away at 79. She died Tuesday of multiple sclerosis “surrounded by family and friends,” said publicist Heidi Schaeffer.

Admirers took to social media in her honor, with writer-director Paul Feig calling her “truly one of my comedy heroes. I couldn’t have loved her more” and screenwriter Cinco Paul saying: “Never the star, but always shining. She made everything she was in better.”

Throughout her career, the performer, often known as Terri, Terry, or Terry Ann, seemed destined for show business from a young age.

Her father was Eddie Garr, a well-known vaudeville comic, and her mother was Phyllis Lind, one of the original high-kicking Rockettes at New York’s Radio City Music Hall. Their daughter began dancing classes at six and was performing with the San Francisco and Los Angeles ballet companies by age fourteen.

She was 16 years old when she joined the road crew of “West Side Story” in Los Angeles, and she began starring in small roles in films as early as 1963.

In an interview from 1988, she described how she landed the role in “West Side Story.” After being rejected at her initial audition, she returned the following day dressed differently and was accepted.

Teri Garr, a comedian

Teri Garr then found steady work as a movie dancer, appearing in the chorus of nine Elvis Presley films, including “Viva Las Vegas,” “Roustabout,” and “Clambake.”

She has also appeared on various television shows, including “Star Trek,” “Dr. Kildare,” and “Batman,” and was a featured dancer on the rock ‘n’ roll music show “Shindig,” the rock concert performance “T.A.M.I.,” and a cast member of “The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour.”

Her breakthrough role was as Gene Hackman’s girlfriend in Francis Ford Coppola’s 1974 thriller The Conversation. This led to an interview with Mel Brooks, who offered her the Gene Wilder’s German lab assistant role in Young Frankenstein if she could speak with a German accent.

“Cher had this German woman, Renata, making wigs, so I got the accent from her,” Garr once said.

The film established her as a great comic performer, with New Yorker film writer Pauline Kael calling her “the funniest neurotic dizzy dame on screen.”

Her big smile and off-center appeal helped her land roles in “Oh, God!” with George Burns and John Denver, “Mr. Mom” (as Michael Keaton’s wife), and “Tootsie,” in which she played the girlfriend who loses Dustin Hoffman to Jessica Lange and discovers he has dressed up as a woman to revive his career.

 A gift for spontaneous humor

Teri Garr, best known for comedy, has shown in films such as Close Encounters of the Third Kind, The Black Stallion, and The Escape Artist that she can also tackle drama.

She had a gift for spontaneous humor, frequently playing David Letterman’s foil during early guest appearances on N.B.C.’s “Late Night With David Letterman”.

Her appearances grew so frequent, and the pair’s good-natured bickering so convincing that rumors of romantic involvement circulated for a while. Years later, Letterman acknowledged those early appearances with helping the program become a success.

During those years, Garr began to experience “a little beeping or ticking” in her right leg. It started in 1983 and expanded to her right arm, but she thought she could handle it. By 1999, her symptoms had gotten so bad that she saw a doctor and was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.

After disclosing her diagnosis, Garr became a spokesman for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, giving hilarious remarks at events in the United States and Canada.

Source: AP

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