PR Crises of Ellen, Steve Harvey Offer Guidance as Lizzo’s Brand Value is Attacked

Like relationships, reputations have highs and lows. Some things burnish reputations, others hurt, becoming small negatives or large, direct hits. At this moment, it’s unclear how the lawsuit against pop star Lizzo ultimately will affect her reputation and career.   

Background 

A trio of former Lizzo backup dancers unveiled a 44-page suit Aug. 1 against the singer/rapper/musician/actor/entrepreneur. Also named were Lizzo’s production company and dance captain. Some allegations are sordid. And there’s sexual harassment, body shaming, racial and religious discrimination, and the creation of a toxic work environment.  

While the charges are serious, they’re only reputation dents for now. However, after a loss in court and/or corroboration from people outside the suit, they could grow, resulting in major reputation damage, or worse. 

Deep-pocketed celebrities like Lizzo are targets for lawsuits. Indeed, recent incidents with actors Jonathan Majors and Ezra Miller has Hollywood considering talent and reputation before making casting choices.

Dominant Brand Value Challenged

Yet Lizzo’s situation potentially is more damaging than garden-variety employee suits. That’s because the allegations challenge Lizzo’s brand values. As such, her situation is comparable to Ellen DeGeneres’s talk show-ending PR crisis.  

Besides Lizzo’s immense talent as a performer, she is an advocate, campaigning for inclusivity and against body shaming and bullying. For example, her advocacy in favor of body positivity and inclusivity. Some of her songs are “anthems of empowerment and self-acceptance.”  

Moreover, Lizzo follows a major PR dictum: she backs her words with action. For instance, she designs and wears clothes that highlight her plus-size body. Moreover, she dances unabashedly in concert. 

Accordingly, allegations that body shaming and harassment occurred within Lizzo’s camp represent a significant reputation ding.  

Did Lizzo Body Shame? 

In addition, the allegation that Lizzo herself body-shamed dancers seems a far more damaging blow to her reputation.  

Making it worse is the belief that Lizzo should know better. Lizzo has suffered for her advocacy, absorbing comments ranging from somewhat constructive to mean-spirited. In June, the 35-year-old entertainer paused her Twitter account, citing a stream of body-shaming trolls.   

Obviously, after all that, if it’s proven Lizzo body shamed or harassed employees, the reputation damage could be horrendous.  

Example from History

While Lizzo’s reputation challenge comes from a lawsuit, there are parallels with events that led to DeGeneres ending her talk show.  

Like Lizzo, DeGeneres was more than an entertainer. She too was an advocate. During her talk show’s lengthy reign, DeGeneres crafted a brand value that dominated her reputation: “Be Kind.” For DeGeneres it was central to her professional persona and personal advocacy.   

In addition, like Lizzo, DeGeneres combined words with action. She made charitable contributions and saluted kindness during her popular, profitable show. 

As such, DeGeneres’s reputation took a moderate hit in April 2020, one month into the pandemic. After thanking healthcare workers and service employees, DeGeneres, during an opening monologue, jokingly compared quarantining with prison.  

Social media quickly blasted DeGeneres, ‘imprisoned’ in her $27 million mansion. In addition, backlash from people with loved ones in prison, where Covid infections were spiking, ensued.  

Toxic Workplaces: Ellen and Lizzo

However, a few months later another issue challenged and eventually destroyed DeGeneres’s brand value.  

A July 2020 BuzzFeed story claimed Be Kind was a sham at Ellen, the entertainer’s eponymous talk show. Writer Krystie Lee Yandoli cited 10 ex-employees who, like Lizzo’s former dancers, blasted the workplace’s toxic atmosphere.  

For instance, the former Ellen staffers alleged they feared getting fired for taking medical leave or seeking bereavement days. Obviously, not a Be Kind sort of workplace. 

As with Lizzo, the Ellen saga included allegations of workplace racism. (It didn’t help that DeGeneres was whacked previously for a tweet after George Floyd’s murder.) 

One of Many Targets 

Another similarity: DeGeneres, like Lizzo, was one of several people targeted. In DeGeneres’s case, this informed her crisis response. A trio of Ellen producers took the initial hit. In an apology, the producers, not DeGeneres, said they handled the show’s day-to-day.  

DeGeneres’s apparent aloofness from a toxic workplace resulted in a moderate dent in her reputation. Lizzo can expect the same if it’s proven she tolerated a difficult work environment. 

An Ineffective Apology 

After her producers’ admission, DeGeneres committed additional PR crisis mistakes that cost her ratings points and ultimately the talk show. They provide a slew of takeaways for Lizzo.  

First, DeGeneres, unlike Lizzo, was silent for weeks before issuing a vague, non-apology apology. In it, DeGeneres accepted responsibility since her name was on the show’s marquee.

Yet she deflected blame, saying her producers didn’t “do their jobs as they knew I’d want them done…that will now change….” She provided few details how things would change. Her public remained unimpressed. 

Be Kind but Don’t Talk to Me

Moreover, DeGeneres never directly addressed an allegation that made the crisis seem extremely personal. The article claimed staff were ordered to avoid engaging DeGeneres in conversation at the office. How kind is that?  

Similarly, performer Steve Harvey took a reputation hit when it surfaced in 2017 he had a staff-do-not-talk-to-me policy at The Steve Harvey Show. However, unlike DeGeneres, Harvey owned it. Harvey admitted he disliked staff/visitor “ambushes.” As you know, he survived.  

The lesson for Lizzo is that Harvey survived because his main brand value isn’t kindness, DeGeneres’s was.  

Of course, neither Harvey nor DeGeneres faced lawsuits in these instances. 

Lawsuit = No Apology, Still… 

As noted, Lizzo moved much faster than DeGeneres. Within days Lizzo rebutted the suit’s allegations as “outrageous” and “unbelievable.” As many companies do in these situations, Lizzo claimed the dancers were problem employees.

In turn, the dancers reiterated their claims.  

Moreover, Lizzo did not express remorse, apologize or address individual charges, likely on the advice of attorney Phil Singer, a legendary Hollywood fixer. Still, the statement’s language was dismissive and high-handed, a PR crisis mistake and a bad look for her reputation 

Another similarity: like DeGeneres, who lost viewers after the BuzzFeed story, Lizzo’s following is cracking slightly. For example, her social media following is declining, though it’s a small loss. But a festival she was booked at was canceled abruptly. And media reports have her out of contention for the Super Bowl halftime show.   

Another similarity between the Lizzo and DeGeneres examples is that both include corroborating accounts. With DeGeneres, a pair of well-known actors confirmed parts of BuzzFeed’s story.  

So far, several people outside the Lizzo lawsuit are speaking. The most substantial is Oscar-nominated filmmaker Sophia Nahli Allison, who posted that Lizzo “creates an extremely toxic and hostile” work environment. In 2019, Allison was tapped to direct a documentary about Lizzo. She resigned after 2 weeks.  

Another former Lizzo employee, Quinn Whitney Wilson, and former dancer Courtney Hollinquest also backed claims in the suit. And six more people allegedly contacted the dancers’ lawyer Ron Zambrano with negative claims about Lizzo and her workplace.  

A report that Beyonce initially dropped support for Lizzo ultimately proved incorrect.  

Reputation Repair or Not? 

Some PR pros advise that Lizzo bolster her image, creating content showing her advocacy is authentic. (Doing something to demonstrate authenticity is, by definition, not authentic.) In addition, they recommend she should do it instead of talk. For instance, fund inclusivity groups and programs.  

But those PR tactics help only if: 

• A jury decides, or a settlement stipulates, that Lizzo and her team didn’t do what the former dancers allege. If not, her authenticity is dead.

• Nobody credible or famous joins documentary-maker Allison’s chorus

Bottom Line 

As the DeGeneres example and many others illustrate, the truth will emerge eventually. Only Lizzo and a few others know if the suit has merit. If Lizzo is innocent, she’ll hold her ground and may opt for a court case, a high-profile affair no doubt.  

On the other hand, Lizzo could offer a settlement, likely admitting nothing. At that point, her reputation-restoration effort should shift into high gear. Perhaps Lizzo could embrace a heartfelt apology.  

However, should Lizzo not admit fault and a court, or the court of public opinion, upends her dominant brand values, a promising career could face jeopardy.