KHIKS attorneys Larry Iser, Shawn Holley, and Allen Secretov have filed a countersuit on behalf of Justin Raisen, Jeremiah Raisen, and Justin “Yves” Rothman over Lizzo’s breakout song “Truth Hurts.” The suit claims that the Raisens and Rothman are co-authors of the critically and commercially acclaimed hit, and seeks credit and royalties for the songwriters. In 2017, Lizzo attended a writing session at Justin Raisen’s home recording studio to collaborate with the trio on an unreleased song called “Healthy,” which shares a number of strikingly similar lyric and musical elements with “Truth Hurts.”
In a statement released upon the filing, Larry 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.”
More information on this case can be found at The Hollywood Reporter, the New York Times, Rolling Stone, Billboard, and Variety.
