Photo: Paras Griffin/Getty; Lizzo/Twitter
The lawsuit cites a September incident when the31-year-old singerordered dinner from the Postmates app, but failed to receive the food delivery.
“Hey @Postmates this girl Tiffany W. stole my food,” Lizzowrotein a since-deleted tweet. “She lucky I don’t fight no more.” Lizzo then attached to the Tweet what appeared to be a screenshot of the Postmates app with a close-up photo of the courier along with her name.
Lizzo/Twitter
According to Postmates’ policies, if a courier is having trouble reaching a customer through the number provided in the app, they are to leave after five minutes.
The lawsuit alleges that Wells “spent more than ten minutes trying to contact the customer.”
The lawsuit accuses the singer of acting “with actual malice and reckless disregard for the truth,” resulting in immediate suffering in light of Lizzo’s popularity and prominent following onTwitter(1.2 million followers) andInstagram(6.3 million followers).
“[Wells] became fearful that someone may recognize her if she continued to deliver for Postmates,” the lawsuit continues. “Unsure as to what an individual or group of individuals may do to cause her harm if she were to be recognized in public, [Wells] was scared to leave her house and as a result was forced to stop delivering as a courier altogether — directly affecting her ability to earn a living.”
The former Postmates worker is now suing for “compensatory damages, punitive damages, pre- and post-judgment interest, attorneys’ fees and costs, and such other legal and equitable relief.”
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“With celebrity status comes great responsibility,” Wells’ attorney Michael Rose told PEOPLE in a statement. “In this age of social media, Lizzo has incredible influence in the public sphere, and broadcasting our client’s identity – along with falsely accusing Ms. Wells of stealing from her – to her vast number of followers invited threats against our client and forced a private individual into the public eye without her consent,” the statement reads. “This sort of behavior, from Lizzo or any celebrity, cannot be tolerated. I am confident in Ms. Wells’ claims and have faith that the justice system will bring a fair and just resolution in her favor.”
A representative for Lizzo did not immediately respond for comment.
source: people.com
