French Montana Settles Lawsuit Over Allegedly Uncleared Sample

French Montana and producer Harry Fraud have settled a lawsuit with the musician Skylar Gudasz, who accused the pair of sampling one of her songs without permission.

Per court documents obtained by Rolling Stone, the two parties filed a request on Wednesday, July 31, asking a judge to dismiss the case. Specific details of the settlement were not disclosed, only that both sides would pay their own expenses as attorneys’ fees.

Lawyers for all parties did not immediately return Rolling Stone’s requests for comment.

Gudasz sued Montana (real name Karim Kharbouch), Fraud (Rory William Quigley), and several other companies tied to the song (including Sony Music) last August. She claimed that Montana and Fraud’s 2022 song, “Blue Chills” — off their collaborative album Montega — featured an uncleared sample of her 2020 song, “Femme Fatal.” Furthermore, she alleged that Montana and his reps were actually in the process of securing a license for the sample, but “Blue Chills” dropped before the deal was finalized.

Gudasz claimed that she first heard about the sample through DMG Clearances, a company that specializes in securing music licenses for various purposes. Gudasz told DMG she was the sole writer and publisher of the song, as well as the sole owner of its recording, after which DMG said they were working with Montana, who’d used “Femme Fatale” as a sample on “Blue Chills.”

Per the suit, DMG and Gudasz’s lawyer “negotiated” a licensing deal, but in June 2023, before it was completed and signed, “Blue Chills” was released. When Gudasz’s lawyer contacted DMG about the song’s unexpected arrival, DMG reportedly responded, “Oh jeez… reaching out to Adam Zia,” referring to French Montana’s attorney.  Gudasz said that DMG made efforts to secure a final agreement, but despite “repeated promises from Defendants and DMG,” nothing ever materialized.

The suit further noted that both Montana and Fraud acknowledged that “Femme Fatale” was her song, both through private correspondence and public statements. The suit cited congratulations Montana and Fraud gave to Gudasz on Instagram, as well as an acknowledgement of her contributions during an interview on Apple Music’s “Rap Life Radio.”