Lizzo Has Been Accused Of Stealing Lines For “Truth Hurts”

The line, “I just took a DNA test found out that I’m 100% that bitch,” from Lizzo‘s smash hit, “Truth Hurts” was reportedly stolen from producer, Justin Raisen.

To elaborate, Raisen claims that the catchy line was a collaborative effort between him, Lizzo, his brother Jeremiah Raisen, songwriter Jesse Saint John and songwriter Yves Rothman for a song called “Healthy” back in April 2017.

Additionally, Raisen says that they were never contacted about being credited for the use of the parts of “Healthy” (melody, lyrics, and chords), “We’ve tried to sort this out quietly for the last two years, only asking for 5% each but were shutdown every time.”

As proof, Raisen posted a video on Instagram which shows photos and clips from the day they wrote “Healthy” along with the comparisons between the two works.

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 Oct 14, 2019 at 11:50pm PDT

He commends singer, Mina Lioness for inspiring the line. Her tweet “I just did a DNA test turns out I’m 100% that bitch” set the tone for the group to create a meme and write the lyrics and melody.

Despite the shade, Lizzo spoke to Lioness on Twitter last Feburary, saying:

“Truth Hurts was written in June fyi— someone made a meme on IG that said “I’m 100% that bitch” and we were inspired, I give that meme credit when I talk about making the song. I’ve never seen ur viral tweet but I’m glad it exists.”

Likewise, Cynthia S. Arato, a lawyer for Lizzo, denies the accusation in a statement for The New York Times. “The Raisens are not writers of ‘Truth Hurts.’” she says “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 to profit from, which is why they expressly renounced any claim to the work, in writing, months ago.”