Missy Elliott settles ongoing songwriting dispute with Terry Williams

Missy Elliott reached a settlement on August 22, 2025, with producer Terry Williams in a longstanding songwriting credit dispute, ending a nearly seven year legal battle just minutes before jury selection was set to begin in a Philadelphia federal courtroom. The agreement resolved Williams claims that he coauthored several tracks on the 1994 album by the R and B group Sista, an early project in Elliotts career, but the parties have not disclosed full terms of the deal. Elliott’s attorney said no money was paid on Williamss core claims and that a small payment was made to purchase beats Williams had created.

The lawsuit, filed in 2018, alleged that Williams, a former Philadelphia studio owner, cowrote four songs on Sista’s album 4 All the Sistas Around da World and was omitted from songwriting credits and royalties. Williams also at one point sought credit for the 1996 Aaliyah track Heartbroken, but U.S. District Judge Nitza I. Quiñones Alejandro dismissed that part of the case as time barred. Last year the judge concluded that conflicting accounts of contribution could only be resolved by a jury weighing the evidence, setting the case on a path toward trial.