Lizzo sued for defamation after accusing delivery girl of stealing her food

Singer was criticised for sharing the woman's name, photo and workplace to her million-plus followers on Twitter

Lizzo is being sued for defamation after tweeting the name and workplace and photo of a delivery girl she accused of stealing her food.

On 16 September the rapper and singer tweeted: “Hey @Postmates this girl Tiffany W. stole my food she lucky I don’t fight no more,” along with a photo purporting to be of the woman in question.

Lizzo then deleted the tweet after a considerable backlash from her followers.

The next day she tweeted: “I apologise for putting that girl on blast. I understand I have a large following and that there were so many variables that could’ve put her in danger.”

She added: “Imma really be more responsible with my use of social media and check my petty and my pride at the door.”

Shortly after Lizzo’s initial tweet and apology, TMZ reported that Ms Wells was “afraid to leave her home and even go to work, for fear someone might harm her or even worse”.

Pitchfork now reports that Ms Wells is suing Lizzo for libel, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and false light invasion of privacy.

In the lawsuit, filed on 15 November, Ms Wells’ lawyers write that she had picked up food for Lizzo from Luke’s Lobster in Boston and tried to bring it to the artist at the Revere Hotel, but did not have Lizzo’s room number.

Ms Wells claims she tried to call Lizzo (who allegedly used the pseudonym “Bonnie V” on Postmates), but could not get hold of her and eventually abandoned the order.

The lawsuit calls Lizzo’s tweets on 16 September “false statements that are defamatory and are libellous.”

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“Lizzo’s conduct was extreme and outrageous in that she used her celebrity to publicly defame, disparage, and threaten a private individual (i.e. [Tiffany Wells]), to roughly one million Twitter followers,” Ms Wells’ lawyers said.

The Independent has contacted Lizzo’s representative for comment.