Lizzo sued for copyright over unreleased Sydney Sweeney track: Sampling drama, podcast rant & fan reactions 2025. What’s next for the queen?
Lizzo’s playful August tease just turned into a legal storm. The Grammy-winning powerhouse faces a fresh copyright lawsuit over an unreleased snippet from her track “I’m Goin’ In Till October,” which cheekily nods to Sydney Sweeney’s viral “good jeans” American Eagle ad.
Filed October 21, 2025, in California federal court by GRC Trust (owners of 1970s soul cut “Win or Lose (We Tried)” by Sam Dees), the suit claims Lizzo sampled its instrumental and vocals without clearance—even in a 13-second TikTok clip that’s racked millions of views.
For fans hunting “Lizzo lawsuit Sydney Sweeney 2025” or “Lizzo copyright infringement sampling,” this isn’t just drama—it’s a flashpoint in hip-hop’s ongoing battle over Black creativity and “theft” accusations. As Lizzo’s team fires back, the suit seeks an injunction to block any release, plus damages for “profits and losses.” In a post-Special era of reinvention, could this shelve her next bop?
The spark? Back on August 15, Lizzo dropped the clip on TikTok and IG, rapping: “Fat a**, pretty face with the titties / B*tch I got good genes like I’m Sydney.”
It was a sly wink at Sweeney’s July ad backlash—conservative critics slammed the shooter’s “thirst trap” denim close-ups as “too sexy.” Lizzo, ever the body-positivity queen, flipped it into empowerment, blending her signature twerk-ready bars with soulful flips. The snippet’s hazy, horn-driven beat? Straight from Dees’ obscure Groovy Records gem, a staple in sampling lore but uncleared here. GRC alleges Lizzo “copied and exploited” it for promo clout, profiting via streams and views despite no full drop.
Lizzo’s camp hit back swiftly. “We are surprised that The GRC Trust filed this lawsuit,” they told Billboard. “To be clear, the song has never been commercially released or monetized, and no decision has been made at this time regarding any future commercial release.”
It’s a preemptive strike—emphasizing the track’s vault status amid her 2025 rollout teases. No word on settlement talks, but precedents like Katy Perry’s “Dark Horse” win (sampling ruled fair use) or Robin Thicke’s “Blurred Lines” loss (subconscious copying = infringement) loom large.
This lands raw weeks after Lizzo’s fiery Million Dollaz Worth of Game podcast rant, where she torched copyright as “policing Black art.”
“The first time people started sampling was who? It was rappers in the ’80s and ’90s,” she vented. “They created hip-hop through sampling… There were no sampling laws back then. It was all a free-for-all.” She slammed the shift: “Hip-hop’s medium was sampling. Sampling is a Black art… And now sampling is synonymous with theft.” It’s poetic irony—her words now echo in a suit over a snippet she might never drop. As BBC notes, even TikTok previews fall under scrutiny, blurring promo and infringement lines in the social era.
X is split: Stans rally with #FreeLizzoSampling (“Black art ain’t theft!”), while critics pile on (“Clear it or quit it”). A QuantumScope post flagged it as “TikTok previews under fire,” sparking 11 views and debates on #EntertainmentLaw.
Bot alerts from @patesalo_e linked global headlines, like News24’s “Sydney Sweeney-inspired lyric trends,” hitting 48 views.
HSBawa’s thread tied it to broader #MusicIndustry woes, quoting her podcast: 26 views, zero likes—raw tension.
Variety reports the suit’s “instrumental and vocal” claims could chill unreleased teases, especially for hip-hop’s sample-heavy vanguard.
For Lizzo—fresh off tour highs and vocal coaching pivots—this tests her resilience. Will she fight, rework, or scrap? In 2025’s litigious landscape, where AI sampling looms, her stance spotlights the genre’s soul: Innovation born from borrowing, now battling for breath. As The Independent quips, a 13-second clip sparking suits? Welcome to the remix wars.
FAQs: Lizzo’s Sampling Suit Scoop
- Q: What’s the song‘s title?
- A: “I’m Goin’ In Till October”—unreleased, teased August 2025.
- Q: Which song is sampled?
- A: Sam Dees’ “Win or Lose (We Tried)” (1970s soul).
- Q: Lizzo’s defense?
- A: No commercial release; future plans TBD—no monetization yet.
- Q: Ties to her podcast?
- A: She called sampling “Black art,” not theft—ironic timing.
- Q: Potential fallout?
- A: Injunction could block drops; echoes hip-hop’s sampling evolution debates.
Thoughts? Team Lizzo or clear it? Drop below—stream Special while we wait.
