Fischerspooner’s Casey Spooner has accused Madonna of not crediting or compensating him for work he did on ‘God Control’, a song that features on her latest album ‘Madame X’.
Spooner claims that he worked with French producer Mirwais, who produced ‘Madame X’, in December 2017.
At the time, his understanding was that his work editing and tweaking a melody on a particular track was for the producer’s solo album, which was later shelved. Then after hearing ‘God Control’ earlier this year he was shocked to learn the work he did with Mirwais was included in the song.
According to Pitchfork, Spooner posted a series of undated screenshots of e-mails about the situation to his Insta Story, one of which cited a phone call with Mike Goldsmith, Madonna’s lawyer. In that particular email, the sender says that Madonna “had no idea that Casey had been involved with writing the song.” The e-mail also states that Goldsmith indicated that they’d be willing to increase Spooner’s advance to $25,000 in order to avoid a longer legal battle.
Taking to Instagram to air his grievances, Spooner says that he’s now had enough and that “Madonna has fucked me over.”
Posting a screenshot of a contract that includes his name alongside Madonna’s and Mirwais’, he wrote: “I’ve gotten no credit and no compensation. I’ve been dealing with this for 5 months and I’m over it. I have played nice and been very patient but time is up! And honestly the terms are shitty. I’m getting a 25K advance against publishing royalties which after legal fees and taxes will be 10K?!?! It’s been an endless nightmare of lawyers and waiting and more emails…..and for what?! 10K? I should be getting paid a percentage of the live show. There is no money in record sales. Period. Not even for Madonna.
“I’ve seen the numbers. @madonna I’ve changed my mind. I think 1% of touring profits will cover my contribution and damages. I mean, it is the opening number in the show. And while you’re galavanting around on stage….I’m completely broke in Berlin. Robbed, ignored and delayed.”
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See Spooner’s post below:
In a second post, he shared a clip of the original demo version of ‘God Control’.
NME has reached out to Madonna’s management team for comment.
This isn’t the first time Madonna’s has faced controversy for ‘God Control’. Parkland shooting survivour and gun control activist Emma González posted several strongly worded tweets condemning the song’s video back in July.
The ‘Madame X’ visual, which dropped on June 26, was meant to be a “wake up” call on gun violence in the US. Directed by Jonas Åkerlund, the clip follows the pop icon and a group of partygoers on a night out, which takes a turn for the worst when a lone shooter opens fire on the dancefloor.