Lizzo took to Twitter on Wednesday to set the record straight about plagiarism claims that were brought forward last week from Los Angeles songwriters Justin and Jeremiah Raisen.
Justin Raisen posted a lengthy statement to Instagram last week, claiming that Lizzo took elements of a song they wrote called Healthy and used them in Truth Hurts. The Raisens also claim they produced the line: “I just took a DNA test, turns out I’m 100 per cent that b—h,” which features in Lizzo’s Truth Hurts.
“The men who now claim a piece of Truth Hurts did not help me write any part of the song,” Lizzo wrote on Twitter. “They had nothing to do with the line or how I chose to sing it. 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.”
READ MORE: Lizzo faces plagiarism claim over ‘Truth Hurts’
In her statement, Lizzo acknowledged that the lyric “I just took a DNA test, turns out I’m 100 per cent that b—h” was inspired by a tweet from singer Mina Lioness in February 2017.
Lioness’ tweet read: “I did a DNA test and found out I’m 100% that b—h.”
“The creator of the tweet is the person I am sharing my success with … not these men. Period,” Lizzo wrote.
After Lizzo announced that she had credited Lioness, the singer shared the news on Twitter, too.
“I just took a DNA Test, turns out I’m a credited writer for the number one song on Billboard,” Lioness tweeted.
Lioness quoted her tweet from 2017 and wrote: “Well baby, that’s that. That’s all she wrote.”
I want to publicly thank @Lizzo and her entire managment [sic] team for embracing me and reaching out,” Lioness added.
READ MORE: Lizzo accused of plagiarism by Cece Peniston for ‘Juice’
Lizzo and Lioness publicly discussed the issue of the line in August.
“What I cannot get over is how brazen Lizzo and her team have been in ignoring my whole presence. They’re doing it because they know I have no capital to address her. I’m just the poor Black girl from London that don’t have a dog in the fight,” Lioness tweeted at the time.
“If she thought I had the autonomy to truly challenge her and assert my rights.. She would have been given me my writers [sic] credit. She could of [sic] rode this tweet till the wheels fell off. I would have supported through and through as long as I was credited.
“All these Black Women in the industry that have been ripped off and stolen from … and Lizzo sat back and let her co-writer steal from me?” Lioness tweeted.
READ MORE: Who is Lizzo? — Everything you need to know about the ‘Truth Hurts’ singer
In February 2018, Lizzo tweeted that she’d “never seen this before in my life” in regards to Lioness’ original tweet using the “DNA test” line in February 2017.
“Truth Hurts was written in June FYI — someone made a meme on IG [Instagram] that said ‘I’m 100 per cent that b—h’ and we were inspired, I give that meme credit when I talk about making the song,” Lizzo tweeted in response. “I’ve never seen ur [sic] viral tweet but I’m glad it exists.”
Cynthia S. Arato, a lawyer for Lizzo, previously denied the Raisen brothers’ claim in a statement to the New York Times.
“The Raisens are not writers of Truth Hurts,” Arato said. “They did not collaborate with Lizzo or anyone else to create this song, and they did not help write any of the material that they now seek profit from, which is why they expressly renounced any claim to the work, in writing, months ago.”
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