Lady Gaga’s Choreographer Richy Jackson Responds To Claims He Was ‘Toxic’ To Work With

etcanada.com:

Lady Gaga is known for her compassionate and warm demeanour, but her choreographer, Richy Jackson, is fending off much different accusations.

Jackson, 44, became a staple in Lady Gaga’s dance artillery and choreographed some of her most notable career highlights, including her 2017 Superbowl Halftime Show and breakout role in 2018’s “A Star Is Born”.

Despite his influential status as one of the industry’s leading choreographers, ten dancers spoke out against him just before Gaga’s 2020 Chromatica Ball tour kicked off, and they claim their work experiences were anything but pleasant. READ MORE: Lady Gaga Reveals She’s Working On ‘Chromatica Ball’ Movie In Update For Fans The allegations against the industry heavyweight include talking down to dancers, embarrassing them and making them feel “unsafe” and even causing some of them to quit the collab with Mother Monster, according to aRolling Stone articlefrom last year.

In a response exclusively obtained by Page Six, Jackson is defending himself against the chorus of accusations and claims only one dancer complaining was actually even hired for the gig. “I think to save face, for their pride, for their ego, they said, ‘We walked away,’ as opposed to, ‘I just wasn’t asked back.’ I feel like they threw me under the bus for that,” he told the outlet. READ MORE: Zazie Beetz Talks Working With Lady Gaga On ‘Joker 2’ : ‘There Are A Lot Of Smart People Working On This’ Jackson believed these dancers might have been emotional about not being selected, as they considered themselves part of the exclusive “Gaga dancers” circle.