{"id":52573,"date":"2023-09-22T09:05:04","date_gmt":"2023-09-22T13:05:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cyberlego.com\/web\/2023\/09\/22\/lizzo-gives-emotional-speech-at-2023-black-music-action-coalition-gala-its-easy-to-do-the-right-thing-when-everybodys-watching-you\/"},"modified":"2023-09-22T09:05:04","modified_gmt":"2023-09-22T13:05:04","slug":"lizzo-gives-emotional-speech-at-2023-black-music-action-coalition-gala-its-easy-to-do-the-right-thing-when-everybodys-watching-you","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cyberlego.com\/web\/2023\/09\/22\/lizzo-gives-emotional-speech-at-2023-black-music-action-coalition-gala-its-easy-to-do-the-right-thing-when-everybodys-watching-you\/","title":{"rendered":"Lizzo Gives Emotional Speech at 2023 Black Music Action Coalition Gala: \u2018It\u2019s Easy to Do the Right Thing When Everybody\u2019s Watching\u00a0You\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><!-- no image --><\/p>\n<div>\n<!-- do not apply CSS styles to this element! --><\/p>\n<div class=\"pmc-paywall\">\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tIn one of her first public appearances since a trio of former dancers filed a lawsuit accused her of turning a blind eye to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/business\/legal\/lizzo-sexual-harassment-lawsuit-dancers-lawyers-six-more-inquiries-1235388267\/\">toxic working conditions<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/artist\/lizzo\/\">Lizzo<\/a> took the stage at Thursday night\u2019s (Sept. 21) 2023 Black Music Action Coalition gala to receive the night\u2019s final honor: the BMAC Quincy Jones Humanitarian Award. <\/p>\n<div class=\"injected-related-story \/\/ lrv-u-margin-tb-2 lrv-u-border-t-1 lrv-u-border-b-1 lrv-u-padding-t-050 lrv-u-padding-b-075 lrv-u-border-color-grey\">\n<div class=\"a-heading-border a-heading-border-background-color-grey a-heading-border-height-075 lrv-u-margin-b-075 lrv-u-margin-b-050@mobile-max\">\n<h3 id=\"title-of-a-story\" class=\"c-title  lrv-u-color-brand-primary a-font-primary-bold-s lrv-u-text-transform-uppercase lrv-u-padding-r-1 a-article-related-module-title a-article-related-module-title--color-brand-primary\">\n<p>\t\t\t\t\tRelated\t\t<\/p>\n<\/h3><\/div>\n<div class=\"o-card lrv-u-flex\">\n<p>\t\t\t<a tabindex=\"0\" href=\"https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/music\/music-news\/black-music-action-coalition-2023-honors-lizzo-sylvia-rhone-jermaine-dupri-1235418812\/\" class=\"lrv-u-flex lrv-a-unstyle-link lrv-u-color-brand-primary:hover\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"o-card__image-wrap lrv-u-flex-shrink-0 u-flex-basis-144 u-flex-basis-96@mobile-max\">\n<div class=\"c-lazy-image  lrv-u-height-100p\">\n<div class=\"a-crop-3x2 a-crop-1x1@mobile-max lrv-u-height-100p\">\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"c-lazy-image__img lrv-u-background-color-grey-lightest lrv-u-width-100p lrv-u-display-block lrv-u-height-auto\" src=\"https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/wp-content\/themes\/vip\/pmc-billboard-2021\/assets\/public\/lazyload-fallback.gif\" data-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/lizzo-grammy-2020-a-billboard-1548.jpg?w=237&amp;h=147&amp;crop=1\" alt=\"Lizzo\" data-lazy-srcset=\"\" data-lazy-sizes=\"\" height=\"\" width=\"\"><\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"o-card__content lrv-u-flex lrv-u-flex-direction-column lrv-u-justify-content-center lrv-u-padding-lr-1 lrv-u-padding-lr-075@mobile-max\">\n<div class=\"o_category \">\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"c_title \">\n<h3 id=\"title-of-a-story\" class=\"c-title  a-font-primary-medium-m lrv-u-padding-b-050 u-letter-spacing-0028@mobile-max\">\n<p>\t\t\t\t\tLizzo, Sylvia Rhone, Jermaine Dupri &amp; More Honored by Black Music Action\u00a0Coalition\t\t<\/p>\n<\/h3><\/div>\n<p><time class=\"c-timestamp  a-font-primary-medium-xxs lrv-u-color-brand-primary lrv-u-order-100\" datetime=\"00:00-YY-DD-MM\"><br \/>\n\t09\/22\/2023<br \/>\n<\/time><\/p><\/div>\n<p>\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tThe award was presented by the Big Grrrls from Lizzo\u2019s Emmy-winning reality show, <em>Watch Out For the Big Grrrls<\/em>, just hours after the singer was hit with the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/business\/legal\/lizzo-lawsuit-sexual-racial-harassment-hostile-workplace-1235418353\/\">latest lawsuit<\/a> from a former employee, this one alleging sexual and racial harassment, disability discrimination and illegal retaliatory termination; the suit from Special Tour clothing designer Asha Daniels filed in L.A. Superior Court named Lizzo, along with tour manager Carlina Gugliotta and the Big Grrrl Touring company as defendants. It\u2019s the second such lawsuit in two months, alleging sexual and racial harassment.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tBefore Lizzo came onstage, one of the cast members spoke about her being the \u201cfirst person to ever believe in us, show us love and believe in our talent and our craft.\u201d Another said, \u201cWhen we found out Lizzo was being honored, we knew that we had to be here. This has always been somebody that gives back. She cares deeply. She loves with her whole heart \u2026 she put in the work to get to this moment.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tStepping onstage to accept the statuette, an emotional Lizzo said, \u201cBMAC thank you because I needed this right now. God\u2019s timing is always on time! I\u2019ve been blessed to receive a lot of incredible awards. But this one truly hits different because humanitarianism is selfless. And to be kind to someone isn\u2019t a talent. Everyone can do it. It\u2019s a gift that you give. In all my years of activism and outreach, I have witnessed at the core of every organization, every movement, every march is just people helping people. And they do it every damn day. I get to come in, help and go back to my life as a musician. These people are still helping people because they\u2019ve dedicated their lives to service. And they don\u2019t get awards; they don\u2019t get a round of applause. Because of that, I\u2019ve dedicated my life and decided to share my platform to shine a light on those people. Because I so badly want to live in a world where we award goodness with our attention.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tLizzo further shared that she donated a quarter of a million dollars in June to several Black-led organizations dedicated to helping Black youth, Black women, the Black queer\/Black trans communities. To applause and shouts, she went on to name the organizations, which included the Marsha P. Johnson Institute, Black Girls Smile, Sphinx Organization, Save Our Sisters and a scholarship partnership with the University of Houston.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\t\u201cIt\u2019s easy to do the right thing when everybody\u2019s watching you,\u201d Lizzo continued in the speech that did not directly address any of the allegations. \u201cBut it\u2019s what you do in those moments where nobody\u2019s watching that defines who you are. I\u2019m going to continue to be who I am, no matter who\u2019s watching. I\u2019m going to continue to amplify the voices of marginalized people because I have a microphone and I know how to use it. And I\u2019m going to continue to put on, represent and create safe spaces for Black fat women because that\u2019s what the f\u2013k I do! My family\u2019s here, Nice Life is here \u2026 the Big Grrrls. This support right now means the world to me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tLizzo responded to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/business\/legal\/lizzo-lawsuit-response-sexual-harassment-allegations-denial-full-statement-1235384195\/\">first suit<\/a> alleging sexual harassment and weight-shaming in August, calling them \u201cfalse allegations\u201d and \u201csensationalized stories.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\t\u201cI am not the villain that people and the media have portrayed me to be these last few days,\u201d Lizzo wrote in a statement posted on X (formerly Twitter). \u201cI 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.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tAt press time it did not appear that Lizzo had responded to the allegations in the latest lawsuit. Daniels is being represented by attorney Ron Zambrano, who is also representing former dancers Ariana Davis, Crystal Williams and Noelle Rodriguez, who claimed in their suit that they were subjected to sexual harassment and a hostile work environment, including being pressured to touch nude dancers during a live sex show.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/music\/rb-hip-hop\/lizzo-speech-2023-black-music-action-coalition-harassement-lawsuit-1235418827\/\">Aller \u00e0 la source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In one of her first public appearances since a trio of former dancers filed a lawsuit accused her of turning a blind eye to toxic working conditions, Lizzo took the stage at Thursday night\u2019s (Sept. 21) 2023 Black Music Action Coalition gala to receive the night\u2019s final honor: the BMAC Quincy Jones Humanitarian Award. Related [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-52573","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-musique","et-doesnt-have-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cyberlego.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52573","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cyberlego.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cyberlego.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cyberlego.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cyberlego.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=52573"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.cyberlego.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52573\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cyberlego.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52573"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cyberlego.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52573"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cyberlego.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52573"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}