Kanye West Loses Bid to Remove Antisemitic Remarks From Copyright Lawsuit

Kanye West has lost a bid to remove references to his antisemitic remarks and the Holocaust from a federal copyright lawsuit brought by German singer Alice Merton, who says she refused to let the rapper sample her music because of his public statements.

U.S. District Judge Fernando L. Aenlle-Rocha ruled on October 8, 2026, that the allegations could help explain why Merton, a descendant of Holocaust survivors, denied permission to use her song "Blindside." The decision allows those passages to remain in her lawsuit accusing Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, of sampling the music without authorization in his 2024 track "Gun to My Head."

Ye's attorneys had asked the court to strike the references as "immaterial, impertinent and scandalous," arguing that his past statements had no bearing on whether copyright infringement occurred. Judge Aenlle-Rocha rejected that position, finding that the allegations concerning Merton's background and Ye's alleged remarks were "not unduly prejudicial" and could be relevant to the litigation.

The judge wrote that the material "may have some bearing on the litigation," including potentially at trial, where it could explain Merton's reasons for refusing to license her song. He also denied Ye's request to remove references to his previous copyright infringement lawsuits, allowing those allegations to remain in the complaint as the case proceeds.

Merton filed the lawsuit on March 25, 2025, in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, alongside two German music publishing companies. The complaint alleges that Ye incorporated elements of her 2022 song "Blindside" into "Gun to My Head," which appeared on a digital deluxe edition of Vultures 2, despite being expressly denied permission months earlier.

According to the complaint, representatives for Ye sought authorization to sample the recording, but Merton refused because she did not want her music associated with an artist who had publicly made antisemitic statements. As a direct descendant of Holocaust survivors, she considered the association particularly objectionable.

Copyright law generally requires authorization to sample protected music unless the use qualifies for a legal exception or defense. Merton's alleged refusal is relevant to whether Ye had permission to incorporate her work into his recording. Her reasons for withholding that permission provide the context behind the allegations Ye sought to remove.

The October 8 decision addresses a narrower procedural question. Under Rule 12(f) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, judges may remove allegations from court filings if they are legally irrelevant, improper, or unnecessarily scandalous. Aenlle-Rocha determined that the challenged passages could bear on the dispute and should remain in the complaint.

The ruling does not establish that Ye infringed Merton's copyright or guarantee that the disputed statements will be admitted as evidence before a jury. Questions about what evidence jurors may hear can be addressed separately as the case approaches trial.

Dylan Grimes, an attorney representing Merton, said his legal team was "very pleased with the court's ruling" and welcomed the judge's finding that Ye's statements could be relevant to the case.

The dispute is among numerous copyright lawsuits involving the rapper's use of musical samples and interpolations. Merton's complaint references more than a dozen previous infringement cases against Ye, which his attorneys also sought to remove from the pleading.

In May 2026, a jury found Ye liable in a separate copyright dispute involving an instrumental track allegedly used without permission on an early version of his 2021 album Donda. That verdict followed years in which the rapper had resolved several sampling disputes through settlements.

Ye's history of antisemitic statements became a major public controversy in 2022, when he made remarks praising Adolf Hitler and later faced widespread criticism over his conduct. In January 2026, he published an apology in The Wall Street Journal, attributing his behavior to mental health problems and the effects of a previous brain injury.

"I regret and am deeply mortified by my actions in that state, and am committed to accountability, treatment and meaningful change," Ye wrote. He also stated that his apology did not excuse his conduct and denied being a Nazi or an antisemite.

The copyright case remains scheduled for a jury trial on March 15, 2027, with a final pretrial conference set for February 19. The parties also face a January 15 deadline for court-ordered alternative dispute resolution, which could provide an opportunity to settle the case before trial.