Lizzo Denies “Truth Hurts” Plagiarism Claims, Adds Credit for “DNA Test” Tweet Writer
Producers Justin and Jeremiah Raisen recently accused Lizzo of plagiarism, stating that she improperly used the “melody, lyrics, and chords” of a demo they worked on together for her No. 1 single “Truth Hurts.” Lizzo has now responded to their claims, writing, “The men who claim a piece of ‘Truth Hurts’ did not help me write any part of the song. They had nothing to do with the line or how I chose to sing it.”
Lizzo continued, “There was no one in the room when I wrote ‘Truth Hurts,’ except me, Ricky Reed, and my tears. That song is my life, and its words are my truth.”
In her statement, Lizzo once again acknowledged that the single’s signature lyric (“I just took a DNA test, turns out I’m 100 percent that bitch”) was inspired by a February 2017 tweet from the singer Mina Lioness that read, “I did a DNA test and found out I’m 100% that bitch.”
Apparently, Lizzo has now made Mina Lioness an official co-writer on the track. “The creator of the tweet is the person I am sharing my success with... not these men. Period,” she wrote.
Mina Lioness added on Twitter, “I just took a DNA Test, turns out I’m a credited writer for the No. 1 song on Billboard.” Find Lizzo’s statement and Mina Lioness’ tweets below.
Along with the statement, Lizzo’s lawyer Cynthia Arato tells Pitchfork that she has filed a lawsuit against the Raisens on her client’s behalf. Arato said,
Today we filed a lawsuit on Lizzo’s behalf to establish, in a court of law, that the Raisens are not writers of ”Truth Hurts” and have no right to profit from the song’s success. The Raisens did not collaborate with Lizzo or anyone else to create the song, and they did not help write any of the material that they now seek to profit from, which is why they expressly renounced any claim to the work, in writing, months ago, as the lawsuit makes abundantly clear. Although it is all too commonplace for successful artists to be subjected to these type of opportunistic claims, it is nevertheless disappointing that Lizzo had to take this step to put an end to the Raisens’ false claims and their campaign of harassment.
Pitchfork has reached out to the Raisens and their representatives for comment.
Following the Raisens’ claims of plagiarism over “Truth Hurts,” CeCe Peniston said that Lizzo’s “Juice” infringes upon her 1992 single “Finally.” A Warner/Chappell spokesperson now says, “There’s no substantial similarity between ‘Juice’ and ‘Finally,’ and there’s no valid claim there.”
Originally Appeared on Pitchfork
