Right Said Fred has officially stirred not just the Beyhive but the Bey.Beyoncé herself, who rarely comments on such matters publicly, has issued astatement vehemently taking issue with the duo’s reported claim that her campnever sought permission to use “I’m Too Sexy” as a part of her recent “AlienSuperstar” track.
Right Said Fred’s allegations, as reported in the UK newspaper the Sun, are“erroneous and incredibly disparaging,” Beyoncé said in a statement issued toE! entertainment news.
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Beyoncé pointed out that her track technically does not actually sampletheirs, as the duo was quoted as contending, but is an interpolation in which“I’m Too Sexy” is essentially paraphrased through a re-recording of theelements used. Thus, she says, permission only needed to be sought from thesongwriting publisher, not the holders of the original “Sexy” recording — andit was asked for and granted.
“Permission was not only granted for its use, but they publicly spoke of theirgratitude for being on the album,” Beyoncé said in the statement she issuedFriday to E!. “For their song, there was no sound recording use, only thecomposition was utilized. Permission was asked of their publisher on May 11,2022 and the publisher approved the use on June 15, 2022. They were paid forthe usage in August, 2022.”
Furthermore, she added, Fred and Richard Fairbrass, the brothers who make upRight Said Fred, properly received co-writer credit as well as being paid forthe use of their song.
Yet the duo claimed the use of their composition came as complete news to themwhen the “Renaissance” album came out in July, suggesting that, if Beyonce’svery specific account of how things went down is accurate, the brothers maywant to set up better lines of communication with their publisher. (A lapse insuch communications would not be the first time this has happened — otherartists have also claimed to have been surprised to learn their publishersigned off on some form of licensing.)
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Right Said Fred blamed Beyoncé for not knowing about the usage, however.“Normally the artist approaches us, but Beyoncé didn’t because she is such anarrogant person,” they were quoted as saying in __ the Sun four days ago. “Shejust had probably thought, ‘Come and get me,’ so we heard about it after thefact when you did. But everyone else, Drake and Taylor Swift [who alsointerpolated the song into their work]they came to us.”
While the duo didn’t exactly deny that they had been given co-writer credit,they said money coming in would be negligible considering the huge number ofcredited writers splitting the pie with Beyonce. “To use our melody, they needour permission so they send us the demo and we approve it and if so, we get aco-write credit,” they told the Sun. “With this Beyoncé thing, there are 22writers. It’s ridiculous, so we would get about 40 [pounds].”
Yet Beyoncé refutes that in her statement to E!., claiming that Right SaidFred is set to get a substantial portion of the song’s royalties, collectivelymore than even she is getting.
“Furthermore, the copyright percentage of the Right Said Fred writers withrespect to the use of ‘I’m Too Sexy’ is a substantial portion of thecomposition,” she said in her statement. Collectively the Right Said Fredwriters own more than any other singular writer and have co-writer credit.This accusation is false.”
Said the brothers in their Sun interview: “We can’t stop it. There’s nothingwe can do. It is shit… “You are going to get into a conversation with someonewho has a lot more presence and power and money than we do. And that won’t gowell. It’s best to let it go. If you’re not careful you spend your lifelooking back. We keep looking forward the whole time.”
This marks the second time an interpolated artist has complained of notknowing about the usage of a song prior to it showing up on “Renaissance.”Kelis’ 2003 hit “Milkshake” had a very minor — and properly credited —interpolation on the album, but after the singer complained, Beyoncé reissueda version of the track that eliminated any trace of the Kelis song. Beyoncédid not respond publicly to that complaint.
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