Lawsuit alleging Drake stole chorus of hit track 'Janice STFU' dropped suddenly - Toronto Star

The lawsuit was dropped several days after the Toronto performer hosted two parties for his 40th birthday.

Drake performs during Lil Baby’s Birthday Party at State Farm Arena on Dec. 9, 2022, in Atlanta.

A Portland songwriter who alleged Drake stole the chorus of summertime hit “Janice STFU” from him has suddenly withdrawn his lawsuit with no explanation.

Less than two weeks after filing documents in a California court, Grammy-nominated musician Aviel Hirschfield moved Tuesday to voluntarily dismiss his case “in its entirety without prejudice,” meaning he could refile his allegations in the future.

Lawyers for Hirschfield and Drake’s representatives did not respond to requests for comment on Thursday.

It was a sudden change in tune from only 11 days earlier when Hirschfield filed his copyright lawsuit. On Oct. 16, he made a detailed account of his allegations, saying “Janice STFU” was “literally identical … in lyrics, melody and cadence” to a chorus he sent to the rapper and the song’s producers months before the song’s release.

In his dismissed filings, Hirschfield said he was inspired by the hook of Lykke Li’s “I Follow Rivers” while on a road trip in a luxury Maybach last year. The vehicle turns up in the song’s lyrics: “Pull up Maybach, beep-beep, baby.”

His allegations say he recorded the lyrics and melody of his idea over audio files from producers FnZ, who are credited on “Janice STFU,” passing his recording around to people in hopes it would make it to Drake. He said he was “stunned” to hear his chorus in the final version.

None of the allegations were proven in court, and the lawsuit was immediately met with a denial from Drake’s representatives, who called the claims “not merely disputed” but “entirely fabricated.”

“Drake wrote this song and has no connection or knowledge of this person, full stop,” Drake’s representative said in a statement earlier this month.

“Janice STFU” was part of a considerable comeback effort for Drake as he nursed his wounds from the Kendrick Lamar rap beef. The track appeared on his 2026 album “Iceman” and spent two weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 earlier this year.

Outside his legal hurdles, Drake has been toasting a new decade in his life.

On Friday, he rang in his 40th birthday with a black-tie celebration at New York private members’ club Casa Cipriani, which featured a performance by the Backstreet Boys.

He followed that with a second birthday bash on Saturday at Delilah NYC, showing up in a more casual cheetah-print jacket and white button-down shirt, mingling with the likes of Travis Scott, Sexyy Red and Bow Wow.

David Friend writes about arts and culture in Toronto and beyond. Follow him on Instagram and Bluesky.