In July 2020, Lightfoot directed that a statue of Christopher Columbus be removed from Grant Park. After the murder of George Floyd, protesters had attempted to knock over the statue and had engaged in a violent confrontation with police.

In March 2022, attorney George Smyrniotis sued Lightfoot for defamation. The lawsuit claimed that Italian-Americans were unhappy with the removal of the Columbus statue, and that a tentative deal had been struck to assuage their concerns by allowing the statue to be displayed in an annual Columbus Day parade. According to Smyrniotis, Lightfoot—angry over the proposal regarding the display of the statue—suggested during a Zoom call that she would revoke the parade permit if the statue were to be displayed. Smyrniotis added that Lightfoot had questioned his competence, berated him and others with obscenities, and asserted that she had “‘the biggest d*** in Chicago’”. For her part, Lightfoot contended that the lawsuit’s “‘deeply offensive and ridiculous claims’” were “‘wholly lacking in merit’”.