The mystery woman who wrote the infamous Beyoncé diss track that Keri Hilson said she was “forced” to sing in 2009 has now been identified.
Singer, songwriter and actress Ester Dean now admits that she penned the lyrics to the smash hit “Turnin’ Me On (Remix)” that caused Hilson’s promising career to burst into flames and end up in charred ruins.
Hilson visited “The Breakfast Club” morning radio show on Wednesday, April 9, to promote her third studio album — her first in more than a decade — and the songstress and the hosts spent an inordinate amount of time dissecting that career-defining — or rather career-destroying — moment when Hilson uttered the lyrics that put her in a decade-long exile and deep depression.
The Beyhive, Beyoncé’s notorious fanbase, trounced a young Hilson without relent for the better part of a decade. In fact, Hilson said she still gets occasional drama about it to this day.
Dean, 38, admits that she was wrong for her role in the song, which she says she co-wrote with Hilson. Meanwhile, Hilson said she did not pen the lyrics that took a swipe at Queen Bey.
“I submitted a lot of verses for that remix — one got picked, it was cowritten with Keri,” Dean wrote via Instagram on Wednesday, April 9. “Looking back, it was childish and didn’t age well. I see how it hurt people, especially women, and I take full accountability.”
Dean, who went on to star in the film Pitch Perfect, explained to her Instagram followers, “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.”
Hilson said her career, which was just about to take off, plunged and shattered into a thousand pieces once the song was “leaked” to the public with the following lyrics:
“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,” which trolls Beyoncé’s 2006 single “Irreplaceable.” Hilson then sings, “She need to go have some babies / She needs to sit down, she fake.”
During the radio show interview on Wednesday, Hilson adamantly said, “Those are not my words.”
She said Polow da Don, whose real name is Jamal Jones, hired another writer to add the aforementioned verse, even though Hilson was an established songwriter by that time.
“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.”
Hilson claims Polow was “quite forceful” and made Hilson feel like if she didn’t sing the track that her career would never get off the ground.
“The mistake that I made was not continuing to fight,” Hilson admits. “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.”
Fans pummel Ester Dean for letting Keri Hilson take the fall for diss track
Despite her contrition and apology, many fans hammered Dean in the comments section of her post. In fact, when someone identified her as the writer of the controversial song, Dean seemed to brag on it.
“Girl you only trying to apologize because you getting backlash now. Be fr lol,” she said one commenter,” while another defended Dean, saying, “Don’t apologize your body of work is Bomb ppl need to mind their business sing along to the the verse.”
A third person surmised, “Naw accountability would’ve came when she spoke on it. Not after you commemt gained traction. How you let someone else get dragged for your words for 20+ years is wild.”
A fourth person was disgusted. ‘U need to apologize to Keri . I’m very disappointed ☹️,” the person wrote.
“So you wrote that versus because that’s how you felt about Beyoncé at the time? And yall pushed it onto Keri to catch fire? Smh. Sick,” said a fifth person.
“A literal cornball bro yall let ppl run with the narrative for YEARSSSSSS that this diss happened because Beyoncé stole Keri Hilson music and I’m so happy the truth is finally out yall are evil fr,” added a sixth user.
Finally, a person asked rhetorically: “10000 yrs later after your career went on to flourish and hers didn’t. NOW you speak up??? What the actual hail.”
