Lizzo Countersued By Songwriters Over “Truth Hurts,” Writers Claim Their Song “Healthy” Inspired The Singer’s Hit

 #Lizzo has been countersued by the people she filed a lawsuit against over her hit song “Truth Hurts.”

A pair of songwriters, Justin and Jeremiah Raisen, claim the Grammy-winning artist’s hit song is greatly inspired by their song “Healthy,” a track the duo and Lizzo worked on together back in an April 2017 writing session. The drama surrounding the song started last fall when the brothers took to social media with their claims. The Washington Post reports the two argued that their writing session was where many of the song’s most popular lines derived from, including “I just took a DNA test, turns out I’m 100 percent that b—-.”

The story eventually made it to prominent outlets like the New York Times and the Post, which led to Lizzo filing a lawsuit in federal court seeking to finally put a rest to rumors that the Raisen brothers and another songwriter, Justin “Yves” Rothman, have any ownership over the song. The brothers filed the countersuit on Friday in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, Western Division. In the document, the brothers state, ‘Truth Hurts’ was ‘derived and copied’ from ‘Healthy.’”

“Lizzo is a talented musician and performer who currently enjoys immense popularity based on a hit song that she did not write alone. The Counterclaims we filed today seek a judgment from the court that the song that is now called ‘Truth Hurts’ originated in Justin Raisen’s home recording studio from a collaboration among our clients, Justin and Jeremiah Raisen and Yves Rothman, along with Lizzo and Jesse Saint John,” said the Raisen’s and Rothman’s lawyer in a statement.

There is some discrepancy over the “DNA test” line, however, Lizzo got the line from a meme. In October, Lizzo addressed the brothers’ claims. “I sang that line in the demo, and I later used the line in Truth Hurts,” she wrote. “The men who now claim a piece of Truth Hurts did not help me write any part of the song. They had nothing to do with the line or how I chose to sing it.”

The brothers are asking that the court dismiss Lizzo’s countersuit “with prejudice and in its entirety.” In addition, the lawsuit requests that the Raisens and Rothman be named “joint authors and co-owners” of “Truth Hurts.” Their other option is that the court “declare that ‘Truth Hurts’ is a derivative work of ‘Healthy,’ and that the three songwriters receive “royalties and profits from the exploitation of ‘Truth Hurts.’ ”