Beyoncé is firing back against inadequate compensation rumors in a rare rebuttal. British pop band Right Said Fred recently alleged that Beyoncé failed to inform them about sampling their 1992 hit “I’m Too Sexy” for her Renaissance album track “Alien Superstar.” In an interview this week with The Sun, brother duo Richard and Fred Fairbrass stated that “normally the artist approaches us but Beyoncé didn’t because she’s such an arrogant person.” However, the “Break My Soul” superstar fiercely denied the allegations, calling them “erroneous and incredibly disparaging.”
“Permission was not only granted for its use, but they publicly spoke of their gratitude for being on the album,” Beyoncé said in a statement to Billboard. “For their song, there was no sound recording use, only the composition 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 for the usage in August 2022.” In addition, Right Said Fred claimed they didn’t have a co-writer credit on Beyoncé’s track, which her team refuted, saying that they own more than any other writer on “Alien Superstar” and have a co-writer credit, TMZ reported. Right Said Fred tweeted days before the album release that “it’s nice to get a writing credit on the new ‘Beyonce’ album. ‘Renaissance’ Credits: Drake, A.G. Cook, Syd, Right Said Fred, & More.”
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It seems unlikely that the brothers would take legal action, given they received due credit and seem aware that attempting to would be facing an uphill battle. “We can’t stop it. There is nothing we can do. It is s–,” they told the Sun. “You are going to get into a conversation with someone who has a lot more presence and power and money than we do. And that won’t go well. It’s best to let it go. If you’re not careful you spend your life looking back. We keep looking forward the whole time.” The Fairbrasses mentioned that when other artists like Drake and Taylor Swift “came to us” about using “I’m Too Sexy” on their respective songs “Way 2 Sexy” and “Look What You Made Me Do,” the deal went smoothly. “To use our melody, they need our permission so they send us the demo and we approve it and if so, we get a co-write credit,” they said. “With this Beyoncé thing, there are 22 writers. It’s ridiculous, so we would get about 40 [pounds].”
