A celebrity feud has been brewing since 2012, and it all came to a head last night. Hilary Duff's fiancé Matthew Koma is known for hits like "Clarity" and "Spectrum," both of which he made with DJ and producer Zedd. The success of the two songs made them notable collaborators, which is why fans noticed over the past few years that they had stopped working together. Seven years later, Koma decided to set the record straight.
“In response to years of: ‘What happened with you & Zedd.’ I want to finally be transparent about this,” Koma wrote on Instagram. “it’s a really sad truth because I’m extremely proud of the work he and I did together. Unfortunately my good feelings toward those songs have all but disappeared as they were experienced alongside someone so toxic and self serving that it occupied the space where any happiness could exist.”
AdvertisementADVERTISEMENT
Koma goes on to claim Zedd took credit for Koma's songwriting on their hits, initially withheld payment for the work he did on "Spectrum," and controlled what songs Koma could release. Then, there were smaller, personal slights.
“He won a Grammy for [their work] – I wasn’t invited,” Koma added. “There was a documentary about ‘the making of Zedd’ and I was the only collaborator not invited to the premiere or asked to be interviewed for the movie.”
He also claimed Zedd secretly can only play piano in the key of C, which is the most niche drag.
He went on to reveal that he's not the only artist who feels this way about the producer.
“For years I thought maybe it was me, but over time, I’d run into other people who worked with him, other writers/singers/producers/DJs/people on his own team, and the sentiment was shared. He’s the worst,” he said. “Now, he has plenty of people to write his songs and produce his tracks and help him continue on his trajectory. But I rather work at Starbucks and clean the toilets than ever experience that abusive dynamic again. Toxicity doesn’t breed happiness.”
This is not the first public feud the producer has been involved in. Zedd previously had a falling out with Diplo (of Joe Jonas/Sophie Turner wedding livestream fame) that took place on Twitter.
@diplo stop being a jealous little bitch and do us all a favor and just shut the fuck up.
— Zedd (@Zedd) March 22, 2016
Thank you. :-)
Reps for Zedd did not immediately respond to Refinery29's request for comment.