Lizzo Says Her Plans to Return to Music 'Crumbled' After Lawsuits

Lizzo is opening up about how her plans for her music comeback have changed.

The “Good as Hell” singer, 37, spoke about reentering the music industry after she was the subject of multiple harassment and hostile work environment lawsuits in an interview with Vulture published on Monday, September 8.

“I put out those two singles, and it feels like I had a crash course in what putting music out as a pop artist in 2025 looks like, and it’s … interesting,” Lizzo (real name: Melissa Viviane Jefferson) told the outlet, referring to her songs “Love in Real Life” and “Still Bad,” which she released in February and March, respectively.

Lizzo said that with her 2022 album, Special, she understood the industry and knew all the “gatekeepers from radio to marketing to media.” However, after releasing her third mixtape, My Face Hurts From Smiling, in June and rereleasing the collection with nine additional tracks on September 5, Lizzo said she’s struggling to find her footing.

“I am flying by the seat of my pants,” she continued. “Which is crazy because I had three years to plan this s*** out, and all of my plans kind of crumbled.”

Lizzo also opened up about what influenced her decision to release My Face Hurts From Smiling after she struggled to create music due to a battle with depression.

“I think I needed to drop those songs so I could subvert that expectation of me because, in turn, it created this new discovery that I really wanted,” she said. “I wanted people to rediscover who I am and fall in love with her all over again.”

Lizzo previously opened up about how My Face Hurts From Smiling helped her through her mental health journey in a June interview with Rolling Stone.

“The process for this mixtape has been honestly one of the most rewarding, fulfilling, exciting, and healing I’ve had in a long time as an artist and as a person,” she said. “It’s been the happiest two weeks I’ve had in such a long time, and I genuinely feel like it cured my depression. And you don’t realize you’re really depressed until you’re out of it, but I was like, ‘Oh, wait, I was really down bad. I needed this.’”

Lizzo’s return to the music industry comes after three of her former backup dancers, Arianna Davis, Crystal Williams and Noelle Rodriguez, filed lawsuits against her in 2023 for alleged sexual harassment, racial harassment and for allegedly creating a hostile work environment. Lizzo’s tour company, Big Grrrl Big Touring, Inc. (BGBT) and dance captain Shirlene Quigley were also named in the suits.

Lizzo denied the allegations via an August 2023 Instagram post.

“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,” her statement read, in part. “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.”

Quigley also denied the allegations, writing via Instagram, “It is with a heavy heart that I address the recent allegations that have surfaced over the past few days. I want to categorically state that these accusations are not only baseless but also profoundly hurtful.”

Lizzo was later sued by Asha Daniels, a former wardrobe assistant for her dancers. Daniels claimed that Lizzo’s team created a “racist and sexualized work environment” during her world tour.

Lizzo’s legal team filed a motion to dismiss Daniels’ lawsuit in July. The singer is no longer an individual defendant in the suit, but her touring company is, according to Vulture. A trial is set to begin in December.

In February 2024, Lizzo and her touring company filed to have Davis, Williams and Rodriguez’s suit dismissed. A judge dismissed the allegation that Lizzo’s dancers were weight-shamed, but the rest of the motion was denied, so the case remains ongoing. Lizzo appealed the decision to allow the case to proceed in June, but the appeal is still pending.