George Michael Estate Calls Out Tory Lanez Over ‘Careless Whisper’ Sample

The estate of George Michael has ordered Tory Lanez to cease distribute of his track Enchanted Waterfall, which features a Careless Whisper sample. 

According to Variety, the late Wham! singer’s estate declined a request from Lanez in mid-2021 to use the track for one of his upcoming songs.

“It was brought to our attention that the song Enchanted Waterfall by the artist Tory Lanez incorporated an unauthorised sample of Careless Whisper written by George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley,” a statement from the estate, to the outlet reads.

“Requested permission for this use had been declined in June 2021 so we took immediate action on behalf of the writers, in collaboration with our publishers Warner Chappell Music, to prevent further exploitation as we will not tolerate any unauthorised use of any songs within the catalogues of George Michael and/or Andrew Ridgeley.”

Enchanted Waterfall was removed from the streaming service Spotify earlier this year. However, it still remains on Apple Music and YouTube.

In 2020, the Michael estate similarly moved to strike Yung Gravy’s song Flex Season, which also sampled Careless Whisper.

You can find more celebrity news on our website and iOS & Android application.