Hilary Duff’s music producer fiancé, Matthew Koma, is opening up about his toxic working relationship with Zedd in a new lengthy Instagram rant.
The singer, who reportedly worked with the hit-making DJ on several of his biggest hits, took to the social media platform Wednesday bashing Zedd (real name Anton Zaslavski) for taking credit for most of the work.
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“In response to years of: ‘What happened with you & Zedd.’ I want to finally be transparent about this… it’s a really sad truth because I’m extremely proud of the work he and I did together…” Koma began his message. “unfortunately my good feelings toward those songs have all but disappeared as they were experienced alongside someone so toxic and self serving that i occupied the space where any happiness could exist.”
“It’s not that dramatic of a story and it comes down to something simple. Shitty people suck and when they’re successful people are afraid to blow the whistle,” he added.
Koma then went on to explain his issues with the “Stay the Night” DJ began soon after they first met, as Us Weekly first wrote.
“I met Anton before he signed to Interscope – we were put together to work on songs for his record – 2 of which became his first singles. Spectrum and Clarity. We met as ‘equals,’ he continued.
“From the beginning, his inferiority complex was made obvious (which seemed so absurd, because his contributions were so wonderful and he was a very talented producer back when he was involved in his productions,)”
“The blows started small – him giving interviews about ‘the lyrics he wrote’ (I wrote every word and melody) with no mention of my name, not being paid for singing on Spectrum until 2 or 3 years later of fighting for a fee,”
Koma also mentioned Zedd preventing him from releasing a song titled “Suitcase” insisting his name be on it. He also mentioned their collaboration, “Find You,” and how the DJ “actively’ wanted him to not sing on the song but it ended up releasing as is because it was on deadline.
“Mind you, This is after I wrote 3 of his four first singles and helped him have one of the biggest songs of that year. I had to talk him out of keeping my voice on ‘Clarity’ pitched up, because it sounded like a remix.”
Koma suggested he was the one who recommended getting a featured female artist on the hit track, which resulted in a Grammy award for Zedd. He added he was not invited to Grammys despite his work on the song.
“[It] felt confusing because the millions of people who connected to ‘Clarity’ and those other songs, seemed to connect to the lyrics / emotion / melodies I had written,” Koma added. “For years I thought maybe it was me, but over time I’d run into other people who worked with him — other writers / singers / producers / DJs / People on his own team… and the sentiment was shared. He’s the worst.”
As for whether he will ever work with Zedd again? “[I would] rather work at Starbucks and clean the toilets than ever experience that abusive dynamic again,” Koma wrote. “Toxicity doesn’t breed happiness. Alexa, play ‘Happy Now.’ Actually please don’t.”
While Zedd has not responded to Koma’s claims publicly, Duff took to the comments section to praise her beau for being open about the problems he faced working with the DJ.
“This is so important for people who love the music to know,” the Lizzie McGuire alum commented. “Writers are taken advantage of, ignored, and mistreated. Proud of you for finally speaking up.”
