Ester Dean is clearing the air after having a hand in writing a Keri Hilson verse dissing Beyoncé in 2009.
“I submitted a lot of verses for that remix — one got picked, it was cowritten with Keri,” Dean, 38, wrote via Instagram on Wednesday, April 9, apologizing for the “Turnin’ Me On” remix lyric that took a jab at Beyoncé, 43.
Dean confessed, “Looking back, it was childish and didn’t age well. I see how it hurt people, especially women, and I take full accountability.”
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The Pitch Perfect actress explained, “I’ve worked with and supported many women since, but that doesn’t erase the moment. I am sorry for my part in it. Growth is real and so is this apology.”
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Dean’s statement came shortly after Hilson, 42, made headlines on Wednesday while speaking about her song and how the diss lyric came about.
In the song, Hilson sings, “Your vision cloudy if you think that you’re the best / You can dance, she can sing / But she need to move it to the left, left,” trolling Beyoncé’s 2006 single “Irreplaceable.” Hilson then sings, “She need to go have some babies / She needs to sit down, she fake.”
During an appearance on The Breakfast Club on Wednesday, Hilson said she does regret releasing the track with that dig at Beyoncé. However, Hilson alleged, “Those are not my words.”
She recalled working with producer Polow da Don (real name Jamal Jones) at the time, who enlisted another writer to add the aforementioned verse.
“I come into the studio, and he plays me this verse. I’m automatically like, ‘I’m not saying that,’” Hilson claimed. “I tried to fight him on it and I began writing my own.”
She alleged that the producer was “quite forceful” in resolve and made Hilson feel like if she didn’t record the verse, it would ruin her career. (She recorded the remix ahead of the release of her debut album, In a Perfect World …)
“The mistake that I made was not continuing to fight,” Hilson said on Wednesday, claiming, “But I was in tears, I was crying, I was adamant that I did not want to do that.”
Hilson added, “I was young, I was super young. I felt I had no power, I felt I had no choice, but I did record my version which had nothing like that. It was on subject. The song is about men.”
Us Weekly has reached out to da Don for comment.
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While Hilson is set to release her third studio album, We Need to Talk, on Friday, April 18, she said the Beyoncé drama is something that still haunts her career.
“I’m getting asked about that 15 however many years 16, 17 years later, it’s like I’ve worn the scarlet letter, really,” she concluded.
Although Hilson feels plagued by the incident, she revealed in April 2021 that she and Beyoncé cleared the air years prior.
“She actually has introduced herself. It was a gracious moment,” Hilson revealed during an appearance on the Middays With Persia radio show. “There was a bit of healing in that moment when we met.”
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The singer explained that after meeting Beyoncé, she felt like the Grammy winner “understood what happened, what had transpired.” Hilson explained, “I take her as a very intuitive kind of soul, as am I.”
Hilson called Beyoncé “amazing,” adding, “I’ve always felt that way, that’s the truth of the matter, but no one will believe that.”
Dean, meanwhile, has worked with Beyoncé since writing the diss verse for Hilson. She wrote and produced Beyoncé’s 2010 hits “Start Over” and “Countdown.”
In addition to singing, writing and producing, Dean is best known for playing Cynthia Rose in the Pitch Perfect franchise. She also performs in all three of the films.
Us Weekly
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