Lizzo’s lawsuit, Doja Cat’s feud with fans, and more pop culture news
In recent headlines
We’re only just over a week into August and already, there have been several head-turning pop culture headlines that you probably didn’t see coming. From Lizzo’s lawsuit situation and Doja Cat‘s ongoing feud with her fans to updates on the Good Vibes Festival 2023 fiasco against The 1975, here are the biggest pop culture news you might have missed.
Lizzo faces charges of gross work misconduct by former dancers
On 2 August, Lizzo was embroiled in a lawsuit involving three of her former dancers. The three plaintiffs—Crystal Williams, Arianna Davis, and Noelle Rodriguez—allege a total of nine areas of misconduct that occurred during Lizzo’s Special tour this year. Among the claims brought forward were those of sexual harassment as the singer allegedly pressured dancers into unwanted sexual situations. This includes forcing them to attend a performance with nude dancers in Amsterdam, pressuring them to eat bananas placed in nude dancers’ genitals, as well as making one of the plaintiffs touch a dancer’s breasts.
The Grammy-winning artist was also accused of body-shaming her dancers. According to Davis, the singer’s comments were “thinly veiled” remarks about the dancer’s weight gain—an accusation that left many fans in disbelief as the artist has cultivated herself as a champion for body positivity and plus-sized bodies for women of colour. In another instance, Davis also details a gruelling surprise audition dancers already hired for the tour had to take which went up to 12 hours. Davis claims that she had soiled herself in fear of losing her position if she went to the restroom.
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On 3 August, Lizzo took to Instagram and denied the claims. “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,” she remarked. Lizzo was scheduled to perform as the headliner for the Made in America Festival on 2 September; however, the event has been cancelled due to “severe circumstances.”
Barbie joins the $1 billion club
This Barbie is a billionaire! The hot pink summer flick, helmed by Greta Gerwig, hit the $1 billion mark at the global box office. This makes the Mattel doll feature the first solely female-directed movie to achieve this milestone, breaking the previous record set by Wonder Woman’s Patty Jenkins which grossed $822.8 million globally. Looks like their extensive marketing strategy paid off big time!
Doja Cat is diabolical in Paint the Town Red
After kickstarting her new era with Attention last month, Doja Cat is ready to paint the town red in her new music video which dropped on 4 August. The single is part of the singer’s upcoming fourth studio album whose title still remains a mystery. Fans’ reactions were split due to Paint The Town Red‘s overt references to the occult and Satanism, especially since the artist never formally addressed the controversy involving her own fans in the past month.
Doja Cat calls out her fans for calling themselves ‘Kittenz’ as a fandom name:
“my fans don’t name themselves shit. if you call yourself a “kitten” or fucking “kittenz” that means you need to get off your phone and get a job and help your parents with the house.” pic.twitter.com/NE4EbXmqvw
— Pop Base (@PopBase) July 23, 2023
Doja Cat has been accused of being disrespectful to her followers after calling them names such as “miserable h*oes” and “creepy” as well as expressing annoyance over the names “kittens” or “kittenz” which fans of the Streets singer call themselves. When asked by someone if she loves her fans on Threads, she replied that she doesn’t because she doesn’t know them. The heated exchange with her fans has caused her to lose over 500,000 followers on Instagram alone.
Loki is back to save the space-time continuum
Tom Hiddleston returns as Loki in season two of the Disney+ series. Premiering on 6 October, the God of Mischief goes back in time and into the future to save the world from destruction. After several of Marvel Studio’s Phase Five productions failed to impress audiences, many fans are excited about the sequel as the first season of Loki was positively regarded by fans and critics alike to be one of the best MCU releases in recent times.
Future Sound Asia sends The 1975 a hefty fine of RM12 million
On 7 August, Good Vibes Festival organisers, Future Sound Asia, issued a Letter of Claim to British pop rock band The 1975 for their misconduct at the music festival which was scheduled to take place from 21 to 23 July. After vocal frontman Matty Healy’s controversial actions and remarks on stage which included swearing, criticising the government’s LGBT laws and kissing his bandmate, amongst other things, the festival was subsequently cancelled after the first day.
In the Letter of Claim, Future Sound Asia has demanded that The 1975 admit their liability and also pay the sum of £2,099,154.54 (RM12,347,967.91) within seven days. The Letter of Claim is written in accordance with the provisions of the English Practice Direction Pre-Action Conduct and Protocol which are part of the English Civil Procedure Rules. It is also noted that failure to comply with these demands will result in Future Sound Asia pursuing legal action in the Courts of England. There has been no response from the band as of yet.
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