Kanye West has been sued by singer-songwriter Alice Merton, who claims that the rapper sampled her song after she denied his request to do so based on his antisemitic and racist remarks.
In the suit, filed yesterday in California federal court and reviewed by Variety, Merton states that West sampled her 2022 song “Blindside” for his track “Gun to My Head” with Ty Dolla Sign and featuring Kid Cudi. Merton was “understandably shocked and humiliated” after West first previewed the song at a “Vultures” listening event in Dec. 2023 due to the association with West, before he released it as part of a digital deluxe edition of “Vultures 2” in Aug. 2024.
The German singer, best known for her 2017 hit “No Roots,” claims West initially reached out in Feb. 2024 through Alien Music Services for approval from her publisher BMG to sample “Blindside.” After denying the request, representatives for West asked for an explanation as to why. BMG explained that “the artist’s values are contrary to our values” and that Merton was “unwilling to compromise her personal beliefs and wanted not to be associated with Ye in any manner.” The suit explains that she has “close ties to the holocaust through Jewish family members who survived its horrors” and that he had made “antisemitic, racist remarks” that were contrary to her beliefs.
The suit claims that following the release of “Vultures 2,” West’s fans blamed and threatened Merton after the song did not appear on the initial tracklist. Merton states that she feared returning to America to tour and stopped performing the song at shows “for fear of confrontation or potential violence against her.” Weeks after the release of “Vulture 2,” BMG sent a cease and desist letter demanding written compliance to refrain from further copyright violations, which was ignored.
A representative for West did not immediately respond to Variety‘s request for comment.
Merton is the latest in a long line of musicians who have sued West for copyright infringement. Last year, Ozzy Osbourne threatened legal action against West for sampling a Black Sabbath song after he refused permission “because he is an antisemite and has caused untold heartache to many.” Donna Summer’s estate filed suit against West for sampling “I Feel Love” in Feb. 2024, stating that they “wanted no association with West’s controversial history.”
