Keri Hilson recently cleared the air on a controversy that’s haunted her for over a decade. In a candid and long-awaited interview on The Breakfast Club, the singer opened up about the infamous leaked remix of her 2009 hit “Turnin Me On,” which included a verse many interpreted as a direct jab at Beyoncé, and unfortunately, slowed down her career for years.
Admitting to feeling “regret” for the track, Hilson further explained that the shady lyrics weren’t even hers. Although she chose not to identify the original writer during the sit-down, the mystery didn’t last long. Ester Dean, a celebrated songwriter behind hits for some of the biggest names in the industry, stepped into the comment section of The Breakfast Club’s Instagram to confirm her role.
After a user asserted, “The writer was definitely Ester Dean,” she doubled down with a confident, “@mstiabby and did!! It was a hit!!!” But the moment of flexing soon turned into a public apology and her taking accountability for the effect of the song. “I submitted a lot of verses for that remix—one got picked, and it was co-written with Keri. Looking back, it was childish and didn’t age well,” she revealed. “I see how it hurt people, especially women, and I take full accountability. I’ve worked with and supported many women since, but that doesn’t erase the moment. Growth is real, and so is this apology.”
Instagram/esterdean
Keri, however, wasn’t letting that version of events fly. She took to TSR’s comments section to clarify that not only was the verse not a collaboration, but she also fought to soften the message. “You used the word co-wrote. I RE-wrote 3 lines in your verse,” she explained. “Which was the ONLY battle I won in the whole matter. But you weren’t there when all this was going down, and we didn’t write it together.”
She even pinpointed exactly which lyrics were written by her: “Been getting dollars boy / Gone get ya money up / No you ain’t the only homie on me, line up.” She emphasized, “The softest section. Lines about a boy. Because not only did I strongly disagree with the unnecessary hateful sentiments towards other women, and I’ve never been a fan of the publicity stunt method.” She added that her original objection was that the diss simply wasn’t “on subject.”
Further checking Dean’s apology, Hilson added, “You chose to stay quiet for 16 years, but coming out now, when you felt a portion of the heat I’ve gotten all this time.”
instagram/theshaderoom
In the leaked remix verse, Keri infamously sang, “Your vision cloudy if you think that you’re the best / You can dance, she can sing / But she need to move it to the left, left,” an unmistakable dig at Beyoncé’s 2006 anthem “Irreplaceable.” The verse went even further: “She need to go have some babies / She needs to sit down, she fake.”
The backlash was instant and Keri’s public image took a serious hit. Things got even messier in 2011 when she was caught on camera refusing to hold a magazine with Beyoncé on the cover. During her Breakfast Club interview, she finally explained that moment.
“I didn’t want to hold no magazine of her… I just froze, I just was, like, shook whenever anybody brought it up,” she admitted. “It’s a conversation I don’t want to have publicly just because I don’t want to piss anybody off… I don’t want to make things even more weird than they already were. I just wanted it to go away.”
According to Hilson, the remix was orchestrated by super-producer Polow Da Don, who was eager to capitalize on the momentum of her hit single while she was still on tour with Lil Wayne. “He wanted me to do a remix to ‘Turnin’ Me On,’” she explained. “He produced the record. Because I was on tour with Lil Wayne, I wasn’t able to lay anything down. He had been on me for a couple of weeks, [saying] we need to do a remix.”
The lyrical substance of the remix came as a surprise when she finally returned to record it. “He had another writer in our camp at the time … he had her write this,” she recalled. “He played it for me— meanwhile I’m thinking I was coming in to write a remix to ‘Turnin’ Me On.’ Automatically, I was like, ‘I’m not saying that.’ That was my position. I’m an athlete. I am competitive. But I’m not nasty, I’m a finesse player. I don’t look at things like that.”
Allegedly, she was “forced” by producers to record the track—knowing its malicious nature. “My album wasn’t out yet, I was told it’s not coming out if you don’t do this,” she revealed. “I was super young. I felt I had no choice. I’m still protecting everyone involved. I’ve been eating that for years.” Despite the toll the moment took on her career and public image, the 42-year-old said she’s reached a place of forgiveness—for herself, at least. “I’ve forgiven myself,” she said. “But I’ll never forget what that moment cost me.”
Meanwhile, Beyoncé has remained notably silent on the matter—never once engaging publicly or responding to the years-long speculation.
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