Lizzo Sues Songwriting Brothers Over 'Truth Hurts' Dispute
Lizzo is suing the two brothers accusing her of ripping of her hit song “Truth Hurts.”
According to court documents obtained by The Blast, Lizzo (real name: Melissa Jefferson) has sued songwriters Justin Raisen and Jeremiah Raisen.
The suit explains, “Lizzo is a groundbreaking recording artist and songwriter. After years of hard work, she attained breakthrough commercial success earlier this year. Shortly thereafter, during the summer of 2019, her song “Truth Hurts,” first released back in 2017, started to rise in the charts.
Related:
Lizzo Denies The Plagiarism Claims About 'Truth Hurts'
It continues, “Last month, just as the song hit No. 1 on the Billboard charts, defendants Justin and Jeremiah Raisen came out of the woodwork with an illegitimate claim to co-own a piece of the work. Defendant Yves Rothman later lodged his own copycat claim. Neither claim has any merit. Lizzo, accordingly, seeks a judicial declaration that the individual defendants Justin and Jeremiah Raisen and Justin “Yves” Rothman did not co-author “Truth Hurts,” and have no right to co- own that work or to share in its profits.”
Lizzo is asking the court to find the Raisens “did not collaborate with Lizzo or anyone else to create “Truth Hurts.” Lizzo has said she created the song after seeing a meme. The brothers claim to have come up with lyrics while in the studio with Lizzo.
She accuses the brothers of, “acting through their sophisticated music publisher and an experienced music industry lawyer, expressly withdrew any claim to “Truth Hurts,” in writing, in April of this year, and subsequently assured Lizzo, again in writing, that they were making no claims to the work. Despite their clear, unequivocal, and repeated renunciations, this September the Raisens purported to “reinstate” their wholly unfounded claims – after they saw “Truth Hurts” become a hit and in a bad faith effort to capitalize on Lizzo’s success.”
The singer says the brothers made no claims until recently, despite the song being released in 2017. She is suing for a court order declaring her the writer of "Truth Hurts".
