Kanye West is facing a lawsuit for copyright infringement filed by Alice Merton, who alleges that he used a sample of her song Blindside without permission in his track Gun To My Head.
The lawsuit claims that Merton, a German resident and descendant of Holocaust survivors, denied Kanye West the use of the sample due to his antisemitism.
West’s song features Merton’s vocals singing the line, “I sat down with a gun to my head,” which is the opening line of Blindside, and replays a melody phrase from the tune throughout most of the song, Merton’s lawsuit claims.
Merton said she was “shocked and humiliated” about the sample, which she found out about when Kanye West performed the song in December 2023.
The singer claims she was not contacted to clear West’s sample until months after he had performed the song, which she and her label refused to do.
West’s “values are contrary to our values”, Merton shared, adding that she did not want to be associated with West because of his “anti-semitic, racist remarks which were made publicly and continue to be made publicly”.
Despite not being included on West’s album Vultures 1, Gun To My Head was later released as a bonus track on Vultures 2.
