A song performed by Rihanna in the new “Smurfs” film is at the center of a lawsuit, with a songwriter alleging Paramount Pictures failed to pay him for his work and is shifting the blame onto the pop star instead.
In a lawsuit filed Friday, Grammy-nominated songwriter RØMANS, born Sam Romans, claims the studio used the track “Anyone,” performed by the 37-year-old beauty and fashion mogul in the 2025 film, without compensating him, according to Billboard.
He further alleges the studio blamed Rihanna, who also performs the song “Friend of Mine” on the official soundtrack, for the project going over budget. The film, a live-action/animated hybrid reboot of the 1980s cartoon “The Smurfs starring the “Diamonds” singer as Smurfette, hit theaters in July and reportedly went on to lose nearly $80 million at the box office.
Romans says he was first approached about contributing to the film in 2022, but discussions with the studio eventually stalled. He claims he was later told the song would not receive a commercial soundtrack release. However, when the film premiered, he alleges it became clear the track was still used in major scenes without his explicit permission and without “paying him a dime.”
According to the complaint, Paramount has made no meaningful effort to resolve the dispute and instead “pointed its finger at Rihanna,” claiming “outlandishly” that she is to blame for Romans’ lack of payment.
“Paramount took the tack common to a toddler confronted with wrongdoing: Blame someone else. In this case, blame Rihanna,” Romans’ attorney Jonathan Steinsapir wrote in the lawsuit, per Billboard. “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.”
Romans also alleges the studio told him it was “very frustrated by the money it had supposedly spent on Rihanna’s participation” and felt it had “not gotten an appropriate return from her.”
“Paramount explained that Rihanna had supposedly required Paramount to waste a lot of money and go over budget on the movie,” his lawyers wrote in the complaint. “Because of that, Paramount explained, plaintiff was just out of luck.”
