Lizzo faces second plagiarism accusation over “Truth Hurts”

Justin and Jeremiah Raisen claim elements of “the melody, lyrics, and chords” of “Truth Hurts” were taken from “Healthy,” a song the brothers made with Lizzo in 2017.

October 15, 2019
Lizzo faces second plagiarism accusation over “Truth Hurts” Lizzo   Theo Wargo/Getty Images

Two of Lizzo's former collaborators have posted a statement claiming the "Truth Hurts" singer lifted elements from a song they created together in 2017 to create her Billboard-topping smash hit.

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Producer Justin Raisen shared the claim, signed by his brother Jeremy, on Instagram. He alleges that on April 11, 2017, he and his brother co-wrote a song called "Healthy" with Lizzo, Jesse St. John, and Yves Rothman. Raisen writes that some of the "melody, lyrics, and chords" of "Truth Hurts" are lifted from "Healthy," including the opening line "I just took a DNA test, turns out I'm 100% that bitch."

"We were never contacted about being credited for the use of the parts of 'Healthy,'" Raisen writes. "We’ve tried to sort this out quietly for the last two years, only asking for 5% each but were shutdown every time."

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The Instagram post contains a video playing clips of the two songs side-by-side. Watch below:

View this post on Instagram

The Truth about “Truth Hurts” On April 11th, 2017, we wrote a song called “Healthy” w/ Lizzo, Jesse St John, and Yves Rothman at our studio. “I just took a DNA test turns out I’m 100% that bitch” was taken from “Healthy” and used in “Truth Hurts”. We were never contacted about being credited for the use of the parts of “Healthy” (melody, lyrics, and chords) that appear in “Truth Hurts”. After reaching out to Ricky Reed and Lizzo’s team about fixing it, we put the song in dispute in 2017 when it came out. We’ve tried to sort this out quietly for the last two years, only asking for 5% each but were shutdown every time. Coming forward publicly to family, friends, artists, and colleagues seems to be the only way at this point in relieving some of our emotional distress caused by this. The last thing we want to do is throw any negativity toward Lizzo’s momentum and movement as a cultural figure. If we believe in what she’s preaching, believing in ourselves & our own voices is something we thought she’d understand. Shout out to the singer Mina Lioness ( @minalioness ) for tweeting “I just did a DNA test turns out I’m 100% that bitch”. A meme of that came up in our writing session & inspired the lyric and melody we wrote together. If Ricky and Lizzo’s team decide to settle this dispute with us, we would like to share some of the proceeds with Mina for her influence on Healthy. The clip below shows a video & photos from the day we wrote “Healthy” along with the comparisons between the two works. All the Love, Justin & Jeremiah Raisen #lizzo #truthhurts #healthy #billboard

A post shared by Justin Raisen (@justinraisen) on

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The statement references Mina Lioness, a singer from Britain who previously accused Lizzo of stealing the "DNA test" line, which she tweeted in February 2017. Lizzo has previously told Lioness the line came from a meme, but claimed she never saw her original tweet. Raisen's letter confirms that a meme of Lioness's tweet "came up in our writing session & inspired the lyric and melody we wrote together." Raisen offers to share "some of the proceeds with Mina" if Lizzo's team "decide to settle this dispute with us."

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Lizzo faces second plagiarism accusation over “Truth Hurts”