Beyoncé is facing legal drama again over one of the standout tracks from her Grammy award-winning Renaissance album. Here’s how her latest legal drama is getting sticky.
This time, Beyoncé’s legal dispute centers on the spoken-word introduction to “Alien Superstar.” The people claiming ownership of the sampled material say they want their cut.
According to TMZ, Hirose Enterprise and producer Shuji Hirose have filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against Beyoncé and several music companies over the use of “Moonraker” — a song performed by John Holiday, who also performs under the name Foremost Poets.
The lawsuit claims that Beyoncé’s team used the spoken word introduction from “Moonraker” in “Alien Superstar” without getting the proper license before Renaissance was released in 2022. The plaintiffs say a license was eventually obtained weeks after the album dropped, but there is a major problem with that agreement. Hirose claims it owned the rights to the song long before the album came out and that Holiday had already transferred his interest in the work decades ago.
In other words, the people suing Beyoncé are basically saying, “You got permission from the wrong person.”
And this is not the first time “Alien Superstar” has found itself in the legal hot seat.
As Complex previously reported, Parkwood Entertainment scored a courtroom victory in an earlier lawsuit connected to the exact same sample. That case was dismissed after a federal judge determined that Hirose Enterprises did not legally exist when the original lawsuit was filed. The company filed the lawsuit on August 4, 2025, but was not officially formed until August 12, 2025.
Talk about a technicality.
Still, the dismissal did not necessarily settle the underlying question of who actually owns “Moonraker.” Hirose’s attorney previously indicated that the company was considering its next move, and TMZ’s latest report suggests that the fight is continuing.
Hirose is now seeking an injunction that would stop the continued sale and monetization of the song, along with unspecified damages.
For now, Beyoncé’s “Alien Superstar” remains available, but the legal drama surrounding its opening moments is proving to be almost as layered as the track itself. And if this case continues, Bey’s lawyers may have another courtroom performance on their hands.
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