Madonna has addressed the supposed similarities between her 1985 song ‘Into The Grove’ and Tory Lanez’s recent ‘Pluto’s Last Comet’, calling out the R&B artist for his “illegal usage” of the track.

‘Pluto’s Last Comet’ appears on Lanez’s recent sixth album, ‘Alone At Prom’, which is heavily inspired by the pop greats of the ‘80s (a group Madonna ubiquitously fits into). It would appear that Lanez sampled the lead synth melody behind ‘Into The Grove’ – written for the soundtrack of the ’85 comedy-drama Desperately Seeking Susan, which Madonna starred in – but didn’t credit the iconic popstar.

In response, Madonna commented on a recent post of Lanez’s on Instagram, writing: “Read your messages tor [sic] illegal usage of my song get into the groove!” At the time of publication, Lanez is yet to acknowledge the comment – or the claims that he sampled ‘Into The Groove’ without permission – in public.

Have a listen to both songs below:

It comes amid a year studded with controversy for Lanez, who is still facing heat for his shooting incident with Megan Thee Stallion. Earlier this month, an LA police officer testified in court that Lanez shouted, “Dance, bitch!” before allegedly shooting the ‘Body’ rapper. 

Lanez faces two felony charges of assault with a semiautomatic firearm and carrying a loaded, unregistered firearm in a vehicle, plus the charge of “personally inflicted great bodily injury”. If he is convicted, he could spend up to 22 years and eight months in prison. He pleaded not guilty to the charges in November 2020, and in January 2021, sought the right to speak out about the case after a judge ordered him to stay silent. 

Last month, it was revealed that Lanez won’t be offered a plea deal in the case.

Other artists have also sparked controversy by aligning themselves with Lanez – when DaBaby (who is, himself, considered a controversial artist) brought him out for his set at Rolling Loud Miami, one disgruntled punter pelted a shoe at the rapper. 

Jack Harlow also defended his choice to keep Lanez on a remix of ‘What’s Poppin’’, saying: “I don’t have no room to judge anybody. I wasn’t there when this and that happened, I don’t know anything. Who am I to judge?”

Madonna, on the other hand, recently teased that she has new music to release in the coming year. The pop icon – whose last album was 2019’s ‘Madame X’ – took to Instagram earlier this month to share a photo of herself laying down vocals in a studio. 

She also shared a number of pics with the artists she’s been working with, including Rae Sremmurd hitmaker Swae Lee, producer and engineer Lauren D’Elia, and writer Jozzy, who is best known for penning Billy Ray Cyrus‘ verse on Lil Nas X‘s ‘Old Town Road’.