The ongoing legal battle over “Truth Hurts” seems to have finally come to an end, for now. A California judge has sided in favour of Grammy winner Lizzo and dismissed a countersuit against the singer alleging that her massive single was the result of a demo track called “Healthy.”Brothers Justin and Jeremiah Raisen and fellow songwriter Yves Roth filed a lawsuit against Lizzo in October 2019 alleging that the chords, lyrics and melody of “Truth Hurts” were the same as “Healthy,” a song Lizzo previously wrote with the trio. Lizzo responded with her own lawsuit, claiming that “Truth Hurts” was written by herself along with Ricky Reed, Jesse Saint John and Tele. Lizzo
later added British singer Mina Lioness to the list of songwriters, crediting Lioness for her work, writing the
viral tweet “I just took a DNA test / turns out I’m 100 percent that bitch,” which became a standout line in the track.The Raisens responded to Lizzo’s suit with a countersuit in February and, this month, U.S. District Judge Dolly M. Gee ruled against the brothers, stating "joint author of one copyrightable work does not automatically gain ownership of a derivative work."“Without deciding who, in fact, authored the songs at issue, and without reviewing the song’s recordings or lyrics, the Court can determine that Counterclaimants allege that the parties collaborated on, and finalized, one song — "Healthy" — before Lizzo allegedly copied portions of that song to make 'Truth Hurts,'” Gee wrote in a transcript of the proceedings obtained by
Billboard. “As a matter of law, therefore, even if Counterclaimants are co-authors of 'Healthy', they have not alleged any ownership interest in 'Truth Hurts', which they claim is a derivative work of 'Healthy.”[video_embed id='2010025']RELATED: Lizzo expands empire; gets TV deal[/video_embed]Even with Lizzo’s latest victory, there is still a possibility that the singer could be subjected to more legal proceedings over the Grammy-winning song. Gee is allowing Justin and Jeremiah Raisen to amend their lawsuit. The men have until September to file the amendment, but Gee did note that she does not believe an amendment will
change the outcome of her ruling.Lizzo publicly addressed the Raisens' first lawsuit back in October. “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. There was no one in the room when I wrote “Truth Hurts,” except me, Ricky Reed, and my tears,” wrote Lizzo. “That song is my life, and its words are my truth.”
Originally released in 2017, “Truth Hurts” didn’t make an impact for another two years until it gained traction on Tik Tok and it was added as a bonus track to Lizzo’s third studio album
Cuz I Love You where it spent seven non-consecutive weeks at number one on the
Billboard chart.Nominated for three Grammys in 2020, “Truth Hurts” went on to win Best Pop Solo Performance. The singer and rapper led the pack this year with a massive
eight Grammy nominations and took home three awards in total, including Best Pop Solo, as well as Best Urban Contemporary Album and Best Traditional R&B Performance for the song "Jerome". Lizzo also won Best Female R&B/Pop Artist at this year’s
BET Awards, beating out Beyoncé, H.E.R., Jhene Aiko, Kehlani and Summer Walker.[video_embed id='2014309']RELATED: Miley Cyrus self-directs '80s-inspired 'Midnight Sky' video[/video_embed]
