‘Truth Hurts‘ by Lizzo is one of the biggest hits of the past few years, but the song has landed her in the midst of some legal wrangling, with a trio of songwriters claiming that they helped her craft it but did not receive appropriate credit.
Lizzo herself kicked things off last October, when she filed a motion seeking a declaration that Justin and Jeremiah Raisen, as well as Justin “Yves” Rothman, have no claim to rights or ownership in ‘Truth Hurts’.
She accused the trio of coming “out of the woodwork” and trying to grab a piece of her song after it became popular. Her comments at the time suggested that they were mainly arguing over who came up with the famous “100% that bitch” line.
This week, the trio counter-sued, saying that in addition to “100% that bitch” – which they admit is derived from an internet meme – they crafted various melodies, chord progressions and “rhythmic cadence[s]” that ended up in the song.
Per an account in The Hollywood Reporter, they are prepared to go to trial, and will present a series of “text messages, photographs, emails and sheet music to support the proposition that ‘Truth Hurts’ derived from joint work.”
The Raisens and Rothman claim that ‘Truth Hurts’ was originally conceived as a song called ‘Healthy‘, which was to have been an anthem about “health, sobriety and wellness.” They said;
“At the end of the five-hour session, Justin, Jeremiah, Yves, [credited song writer Jesse Saint John] and Lizzo had each contributed inseparable and interdependent non-trivial amounts of creative, original and intellectual expression to create ‘Healthy’ and a second song ‘Gorgeous,’ with the intent that their creative contributions be combined.”
They claim to have received a text from Lizzo the day after the session, saying: “Whoooo these r bomb! Gonna send notes asap!”
‘Healthy’ was ultimately never released, but when ‘Truth Hurts’ came out in 2017, the Raisens noticed a similarity between the two tracks. The matter was reportedly discussed in phone calls and emails, but it could not be amicably resolved, and may now end up before the courts.
In a statement obtained by The Hollywood Reporter, lawyers representing the Raisens and Rothman said:
“Lizzo is a talented musician and performer who currently enjoys immense popularity based on a hit song that she did not write … When the case proceeds to trial, we look forward to sharing the sound recordings, videos, photographs and musicology that 100% prove that collaboration. Our clients deserve their fair share of the recognition and revenue that comes from collaborating on a hit song. From the standpoint of the industry as a whole, a contrary result would make it impossible for working musicians to be confident that they will be properly credited for their work if they get into a studio and create songs with powerful artists.”
