LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: After three of Lizzo’s former background dancers sued the ‘Truth Hurts’ singer for sexual harassment and creating a hostile work environment, the ‘RHONY’ alum Bethenny Frankel candidly spoke about the “rampant” cancel culture. Opining that there were “so many different sides to stories,” the Skinnygirl CEO questioned “do we just instantly react” whenever anything went viral.
Frankel, who has around 7.4M followers, raised the question on TikTok while delivering a lengthy speech. She gave her opinion about a statement issued by the 35-year-old singer, who is known for vociferously advocating body positivity, in response to the dancers' accusations.
Is Bethenny Frankel supporting Lizzo?
Frankel said that she had witnessed several celebrities being “taken down” by fans “without knowing the full story.” Speaking about such celebrities, including Ariana Grande, Hailey Bieber and Amber Heard who received backlash from netizens, Frankel said, “It seems like people get really excited and there's a feeding frenzy and trolls come in almost like ticks coming to the host wanting to get excited; leeches getting excited when someone is getting taken down without knowing the full story,” per the Daily Mail.
Conceding that she was unaware of the full story, the 52-year-old multifaceted star said, “I don't know the full story. And it's really easy.” Then, referring to Lady Gaga’s tiff with one of her former assistants, Jennifer O’Neill, she recalled, “I remember Lady Gaga going through it with an assistant of hers.”
Frankel continued to criticize the “taking down” culture by saying, “It's really easy to just believe everything that everyone says. And I'm not saying that what people are saying isn't true, but it's really easy for everyone to just jump on and get excited.” The BStrong founder supported her point with the instance of the Amber Heard-Johnny Depp case. Frankel said, “Amber Heard was the hero and Johnny Depp was the villain, and then the court case happened and it flipped upside down.”
Frankel continued, “Overall, it's just really easy for someone to get a headline about a big celebrity. And I would at least say, should we split the difference?” adding, “Because it's starting to feel rampant.”
The ‘Just B’ podcaster defended Miranda Lambert for castigating six fans who were busy clicking selfies during her July 16 concert. Frankel wondered, “We weren't there on stage when Miranda Lambert maybe was very distracted and maybe, you know, she was having a s****y day and maybe the people were being super annoying. We don't actually know. I don't know.”
The Bravo star previously defended Cardi B as well for throwing her microphone at a fan for splashing a drink on her during a concert in Las Vegas at the end of July. She said, “I just heard that Cardi B did possibly provoke people to throw water on her, but we really don't know cause we weren't there," adding, “There are so many different sides to stories, so it's just. I feel like, is it possible that we can all, like, sit back and has takes the pendulum swings?”
Frankel continued in her video, “Lizzo's been beloved on this app. In fact, people have said to me like, 'F**k off, you know, you're not like Lizzo.' So are we capable of giving people the benefit of the doubt? Or do we just instantly react when we see headlines that get pick up?”
What did Lizzo do?
Three of Lizzo's former backup dancers, Arianna Davis, Crystal Williams, and Noelle Rodriguez, filed a lawsuit against the singer for weight-shaming and pressuring them into doing sexual acts at strip clubs along with creating a hostile work environment during her ‘Special Tour’, per NBC News. The dancers alleged that Lizzo fat-shamed one of them and forced them to touch nude performers at an adult club in Amsterdam.
On Thursday morning, August 3, Lizzo issued a statement on Instagram which read, “[It was] never my intention to make anyone feel uncomfortable,” adding, “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 four-time Grammy-winning singer further wrote, “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.” She added that the accusations were “false,” “unbelievable” and “outrageous.”
