The Michael Jackson Estate has officially shut down Sexyy Red’s explicit flip of “Beat It,” stating that her use of the iconic track is unauthorized.
The response comes after footage of the St. Louis rapper performing a raunchy version titled “Just Eat It” went viral on social media earlier this week.
The controversy began when Lil Yachty shared a video on his second Instagram page showing Sexyy Red delivering explicit lyrics over the instrumental of Michael Jackson’s 1984 hit from his best-selling album, Thriller. In the clip, she replaces the original “just beat it” refrain with “just eat it,” adding graphic verses that quickly circulated across platforms. Lil Yachty jokingly captioned the post as a “sneak peek scene of the new Michael biopic,” but the Jackson estate did not share the humor.
By Thursday, Feb. 12, a spokesperson for the Michael Jackson Estate addressed the situation in a statement to Billboard, saying, “We were totally unaware of this. The use of the music is unauthorized.” The statement made clear that the estate had not granted permission for the sample, effectively signaling that Sexyy Red should not expect clearance for an official release on streaming platforms.
Despite the backlash, Sexyy Red appeared to lean into the moment. She later shared a separate video of herself dancing to the remix on her own social media, captioning it as “Leaked footage from da Michael Jackson movie” and calling it a “Hoochie tribute to da best.”
As of now, her team has not publicly responded to requests for comment regarding the estate’s statement.
This is not the first time Sexyy Red has faced criticism involving cultural icons. Last year, she drew backlash after posting an AI-generated image of herself alongside Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The post was widely condemned as distasteful, prompting responses from social media users and from King’s daughter, Bernice King. Sexyy Red later deleted the image and issued an apology to the family.
With the estate making its position clear, the fate of the “Just Eat It” remix remains uncertain. What is certain is that any official release involving Michael Jackson’s music would require authorization, and in this case, that approval has not been granted.
