Body shaming has long been normalized in most of our cultures. People think it is okay to discriminate against anyone based on their weight and size. But this woman decided to take it to the next level. She sued the entire taxi company when a driver told her, she couldn’t fit in his car. Here’s what happened next.
Dajua Blanding, popularly known as Rapper Dank Demoss, recently got involved in a controversy after she filed legal action against ‘Lyft’, a taxi company, alleging that a cab driver refused to let her sit in his car. The incident reported from Michigan quickly went viral on social media after the rapper and a plus-size influencer posted a video of the encounter on TikTok sharing how she was discriminated. As seen in the clip, the driver of a Mercedes Benz sedan is heard telling the woman, “I got no space at all, my car is small.” The cab driver expressed his doubts when Blanding told him she could ‘fit in’; he reiterated saying, “You can’t.”
When the woman asked him about her payment refund, he even went on to advise her saying, “You need to order a bigger car.” He even shamelessly agreed when Dank Demoss asked whether his refusal was due to her size. He tried mocking her weight by making an unusual remark saying, “My tires are ‘very tired’ and cannot handle your weight.” Blanding was hurt by this discrimination and decided to call out Lyft for this discriminatory treatment. She even expressed to the company that they ‘treat big people like s***’. Though the woman was offended, she stayed firm on fighting the discrimination and she went forward with the lawsuit citing the same.
Considering the fact that Michigan is the only US state that has specific laws that prohibit body shaming, Blanding still had to go through this turmoil. While the rapper’s attorney emphasized that what the driver did was ‘illegal’, Lyft issued a response clarifying its stance against the discrimination. Reports even suggest that the ride-hailing company has fired the driver following the complaint.
Dank Demoss weighs 489 pounds but says that her weight does not prevent her from riding in cabs. She mentioned that she has ‘been in cars smaller than that’ but it’s the driver’s behavior that hurt her. Ms. Blanding is now seeking millions of dollars in ‘damages’ alleging harm to her reputation due to the discrimination.
