Rihanna is being accused of wrongdoing over a Smurfs movie song she had nothing to do with.
A lawsuit filed Friday (Jan. 30) by Grammy-nominated songwriter ROMANS, born Sam Roman, claims Paramount Pictures used songs he wrote for the 2025 Smurfs movie without permission or payment and then tried to shift the blame onto Rihanna.
According to legal documents reviewed by Billboard, Roman says Paramount used the Rihanna-performed track "Anyone" after negotiations collapsed, without his consent and without "paying him a dime." The lawsuit accuses the studio of copyright infringement, fraud, and negligent misrepresentation.
Roman also alleges Paramount later refused to remedy the situation while having "pointed its finger at Rihanna,” claiming that she was responsible for his lack of payment.
In the complaint, Roman's attorney Jonathan Steinsapir writes, "Paramount took the tack common to a toddler confronted with wrongdoing: Blame someone else. In this case, blame Rihanna. Paramount decided to punish plaintiff — and brazenly infringe his copyrights by using them without consent and without paying him a dime — because the studio was mad at Rihanna."
The suit also alleges that Smurfs, which reportedly lost Paramount about $80 million, included another Roman-written song, "Always on the Outside," performed by James Corden, also without authorization.
Steinsapir writes, "Paramount knew full well that it had no right to use plaintiff's intellectual property in this way. Indeed, Paramount credits plaintiff as the songwriter and producer of both tracks. Despite these credits, Paramount has still not paid plaintiff even a penny."
Rihanna is not named as a defendant in the complaint nor accused of any wrongdoing.
Roman claims Paramount first approached him in 2022 with the promise that the song would be performed by Rihanna, heavily promoted, and that he would retain “significant backend royalties.”
His lawyers write, “To state the obvious, big-name performers significantly drive the commercial value of songs. Writing and producing just one hit for an artist like Rihanna can yield economic benefits for decades.”
As the film's release neared, Roman claims he was told “Anyone” would not be released commercially, a shift he says changed the deal's economics and caused talks to be “completely halted.” The suit states the movie went on to be released with his music featured in "key scenes."
His attorneys write, “At no time did plaintiff consent in any way — expressly or impliedly — to Paramount releasing the songs and recordings without a written agreement.”
The film’s official soundtrack only features one song performed by Rihanna, “Friend of Mine,” which Roman does not have a writing credit for.
After the film’s release, Roman alleges Paramount chose to "blame Rihanna" by telling him it was "very frustrated by the money it had supposedly spent on Rihanna's participation" and that they did not get "an appropriate return from her."
The complaint states, "Paramount explained that Rihanna had supposedly required Paramount to waste a lot of money and go over budget on the movie. Because of that, Paramount explained, plaintiff was just out of luck."
“Plaintiff has no issue with Rihanna,” Roman’s lawyers emphasized. “His issue is squarely with Paramount.”