https://blackgirlnerds.com/are-female-celebrities-treated-differently-when-it-comes-to-abuse-allegations/

On 2 August, 2023, singer Lizzo was named in a lawsuit that accused her of creating a hostile work environment. Three former dancers allege the pop star subjected them to sexual and racial discrimination, fat shaming and physical and emotional abuse.

Lizzo argued that case should be dismissed under California’s anti-SLAPP statute — a special law that makes it easier to quickly end meritless lawsuits that threaten free speech. Her lawyers argued that the accusers were using the lawsuit to “silence” that freedom.

On February 2, a Los Angeles judge denied Lizzo’s motion to toss out this lawsuit dismissing certain accusations, but allowing the case as a whole to move forward toward a trial. The ruling rightfully signals that Lizzo, or any celebrity, is not protected from this sort of inexcusable conduct merely because she is famous, or a woman for that matter.

Whatever the truth is behind the allegations against Lizzo, more importantly, this case is a primary example that abuse can exist anywhere, and we can’t pretend that women can’t be abusers, too.

The idea that any woman, could be as capable as a man — making other people’s lives miserable, or even of sexual harassment, shouldn’t surprise us as much as it invariably does. Unfortunately, sisters are not always sisterly. Sexual harassment and abuse by women may be rare, but it’s not nonexistent.

Anyone can be afraid of the professional consequences of rejecting a boss. Anyone can be made to feel humiliated, or anxious about coming in to work because of what they’ll have to pretend they are comfortable with. And women, of course, can also be sexually harassed and abused by other women. Even now, the possibility still rarely enters into our assumptions. But what’s glaring is it is ingrained in us to see men as the problem and women as the answer, no doubt because so often that is how it pans out.

But anyone can behave badly, especially in the entertainment world where the kind of toxic, high-pressure environments where people with power are indulged in abusing it, so long as they’re getting the results they want. Harassment is ultimately an abuse of power, and these days power doesn’t always lie where it did.

Although we champion her, Barbie presides over a make-believe world, while in the real world the same old assumptions and pressures create the conditions under which some women thrive and others don’t. The only power that really counts, at work or in private life but especially in the entertainment world that hypocritically blurs the two, is the power to say no to something personally uncomfortable without having to live in fear of the consequences.

In 2013, actress Emma Roberts was arrested for beating up her then boyfriend Evan Peters. She broke his nose and bit him. Peters forgave her, did not want to press any charges, and ended up publicly comforting her as she was crying not long after the incident. It was reported that they were working to move past the incident. Roberts and Peters ultimately broke off their engagement, however, her career never really suffered and she stars in the new film Madame Web.

Think about if Peters had broken Roberts’ nose and bit her. As a society, the view of the entire situation would be different. We have to be careful in believing that forgiveness means that no abuse actually took place, when in fact, that is not the case. It is very common for victims of abuse to forgive their perpetrators. Men are no different to women.

In 2009, Elin Nordegren, Tiger Woods’ then wife, had allegedly found text messages on his phone that proved he was cheating on her, so she struck him with a nine iron, causing him to spit blood, scratched his face, and smashed out the windows of his car as he tried to get away. After he crashed, she panicked and made up a conflicting story on the spot. Tiger Woods had to undergo plastic surgery from the injuries she inflicted.

This particular ordeal provided us with an ugly glimpse into the behind-the-scenes life of, at the time, Nike’s golden child — the man who could do no wrong; the man who was feared on the golf course, and adored by us all, was suddenly human. This single, unfortunate incident made Tiger Woods just another man going through hard times with his wife, and that is how it ended. For the most part, women praised Nordegren for making Woods pay for cheating. He never pressed charges against the mother of his children, and she ultimately moved on with her life better than ever.

We have come to a place where we accept that most celebrities have the resources to stay out of jail, and attain counsel. Being a celebrity can influence decisions. Yet, in these two cases, the men showed pity on the women and quickly forgave them, almost in an effort to make the incident go away just as fast. Maybe the men assumed that nothing would happen to the women anyway; that domestic violence against them wouldn’t be taken seriously; that they would rather protect their image then take it any further.

After news breaks regarding celebrity scandals, people soon forget and move on to whatever the next big news story is. As a society, we need to expand our view of what abuse looks like in the entertainment world when perpetrated by women. They need to be taken more seriously. In the grand scheme of things, it truly benefits us all when they are.