Did Lizzo Ever Settle Those “Truth Hurts” Plagiarism Accusations?
2019 was full of many highs and lows for Lizzo.
Aside from dominating the music charts with her catchy pop hits and receiving top music honors, the singer has also faced some intense backlash for her track “Truth Hurts.”
Back in August 2019, the singer was accused of stealing her famous ‘DNA Test’ lyric from three individuals who claimed they were the ones who came up with the iconic phrase.
Now that it’s been a few months since we last heard of this ongoing situation, we can’t help but wonder: have these allegations against Lizzo finally been put to rest?
The singer’s ‘DNA Test’ lyric has caused a ton of drama
Lizzo may have millions of adoring fans who stand by her through practically everything, but just like any celebrity, she too has had to deal with online haters.
For months, the “Juice” songstress had been faced with some intense backlash on social media after critics claimed she ripped off her famous “Truth Hurts” line, “I just took a DNA test, turns out, I’m 100% that b*tch” from a 2017 tweet.
The accusations came shortly after news outlets reported that Lizzo was trying to trademark the lyric to use for her new merch line.
After learning of this, someone took to Twitter to slam the singer for not originally coming up with this phrase, which soon created a domino effect of drama.
“Lizzo has literally built her whole brand off of some stolen words and now her whole sh*t is unraveling because she point-blank refused to cite a Black woman,” the user tweeted. “On Beyoncé’s internet, the receipts last forever.”
Someone else then linked to a 2017 tweet by British songwriter @MinaLioness who many believe is the sole creator of “I did a DNA test and found out I’m 100% that b*tch.”
The following year, Mina called out the chart-topping songstress for using the phrase she claimed to have written seven months before the release of the pop track.
“Now everyone believes those were your words, when in fact they were mine. My creativity, my wit, and my comedy,” she wrote, later claiming that she got the idea from Demi Lovato’s DNA Test tweet that revealed she’s 1% African.
Lizzo soon responded to this tweet by sharing that she wrote “Truth Hurts” in June 2017 and claimed the song was inspired by a meme she saw on Insta that used the phrase.
“I’ve never seen ur viral tweet but I’m glad it exists,” the singer tweeted.
Lizzo has since spoken her truth
With so many people certain that she’s guilty of lyric-stealing, Lizzo finally responded to those ongoing allegations in October 2019 with an Instagram post captioned, “Truth Hurts…but the truth shall set you free.”
In the post, the singer reaffirmed that her song was inspired by that IG meme she saw back in 2017 and fully denied stealing from anyone.
“Hey y’all…as I’ve shared before, in 2017, while working on a demo, I saw a meme that resonated with me, a meme that made me feel like 100% that b*tch,” she wrote. “I sang that line in the demo, and I later used the line in Truth Hurts.”
The singer went on to further deny the allegations made by brothers Justin and Jeremiah Raisen, who previously argued that they helped Lizzo come up with the famous line during a writing session.
“The men who now claim a piece of Truth Hurts did not help me write any part of the song,” she continued. “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 [a music producer], and my tears. That song is my life, and its words are my truth.”
Lizzo concluded her post by revealing that she only gives credit where it’s due and recognized Mina for coming up with such an iconic phrase.
“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,” the singer penned. “Period. Thank you to everyone who has supported me and my song. Xoxo.”
Shortly after Lizzo shared her post, Mina took to Twitter to thank the singer for acknowledging her for her creativity.
“I just took a DNA Test, turns out I’m a credited writer for the number one song on Billboard,” she wrote.
It seems like all of the drama surrounding “Truth Hurts” has finally been put to rest and hopefully, people will just let Lizzo be great moving forward.
