Lizzo Awards “Truth Hurts” Songwriting Credit To Tweet Author Mina Lioness, Not The Men Suing Her
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Lizzo was supposed to break big this year with “Juice” or “Tempo” or one of the myriad bangers on her first major-label LP, Cuz I Love You. Instead, perhaps propelled by its inclusion in the Netflix movie Someone Great, her 2017 single “Truth Hurts” caught fire, was belatedly added to Cuz I Love You, and climbed all the way to #1, where it currently sits for a seventh nonconsecutive week. Scrutiny follows success, and in Lizzo’s case that has included two separate parties vying for songwriting credit on “Truth Hurts” — specifically its opening lyric, “I just took a DNA test/ Turns out I’m 100% that bitch.”
In early 2018, before “Truth Hurts” became a sensation, Twitter user Mina Lioness claimed credit for the phrase, citing her own viral tweet from the previous year. Lizzo maintained that she incorporated the phrase into her song after seeing it in a meme on Instagram.
Then, in an Instagram post last week, producers Justin and Jeremiah Raisen claimed the “DNA test” lyric and other musical elements originated from their writing session with Lizzo in April 2017, two months before she allegedly wrote “Truth Hurts” with Ricky Reed. To support their case, the brothers overlaid “Healthy,” a demo that emerged from that session, with “Truth Hurts.”
Today, Lizzo issued a statement explaining that she would not be listing the Raisen brothers as songwriters on the track. “The men who now claim a piece of Truth Hurts did not help me write any part of the song,” she wrote. “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.”
However, she has decided to award a credit to Mina Lioness: “I later learned that a tweet inspired the meme. The creator of the tweet is the person I am sharing my success with… not these men. Period.” On Twitter, Mina Lioness confirmed, “I just took a DNA Test, turns out I’m a credited writer for the number one song on Billboard.” She added, “I want to publicly thank @Lizzo and her entire managment team for embracing me and reaching out.”
Lizzo’s lawyer Cynthia Arato also offered this statement to Stereogum regarding the Raisens’ lawsuit:
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.
Additionally a rep for Lizzo’s publishing company Warner/Chappell has issued a statement regarding her other songwriting controversy, in which CeCe Peniston is accusing her of lifting ad-libs from 1992’s “Finally” on “Juice.” The rep writes, “There’s no substantial similarity between ‘Juice’ and ‘Finally,’ and there’s no valid claim there.”
Check out Lizzo and Lioness’ posts below.
I just took a DNA Test, turns out I’m a credited writer for the number one song on Billboard.
— Legendina (@MinaLioness) October 23, 2019
Well baby, that’s that. That’s all she wrote. https://t.co/bLdv68t8qp
— Legendina (@MinaLioness) October 23, 2019
I want to publicly thank @Lizzo and her entire managment team for embracing me and reaching out.
— Legendina (@MinaLioness) October 23, 2019
