Beyoncé has shut down a claim suggesting she sampled a Right Said Fred song without permission.
Last week, brothers Fred and Richard Fairbrass alleged during an interview with The Sun that the music superstar didn’t ask them if she could interpolate their 1991 hit I’m Too Sexy on her track Alien Superstar, which was included on her seventh studio album Renaissance.
“Normally the artist approaches us, but Beyoncé didn’t because she is such an arrogant person she just had probably thought, ‘Come and get me,’ so we heard about it after the fact, when you did,” they stated.
However, a representative for Beyoncé quickly refuted the allegation.
“The comments made by Right Said Fred stating that Beyoncé used I’m Too Sexy in Alien Superstar without permission are erroneous and incredibly disparaging,” they told Entertainment Weekly. “Permission was not only granted for its use, but they publicly spoke of their gratitude for being on the album.”
In addition, the spokesperson noted “no sound recording” from I’m Too Sexy was used in the song, and Right Said Fred was paid for the usage.
“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,” they continued. “Furthermore, the copyright percentage of the Right Said Fred writers with respect to the use of I’m Too Sexy is a substantial portion of the composition. Collectively, the Right Said Fred writers own more than any other singular writer and have co-writer credit. This accusation is false.”
In addition, Fred and Richard confirmed they had a writing credit on Alien Superstar earlier this year.
“It’s nice to get a writing credit on the new Beyoncé album,” they wrote on Twitter on 22 July, shortly before Renaissance was released.