After a social media blowout for illegally sampling music from Portishead’s “Machine Gun,” The Weeknd has responded and denies all accusations of infringement. Portishead’s Geoff Barrow discussed The Weeknd’s response on Twitter earlier this morning.

Photo Credit: Richard Saethan

When The Weeknd premiered “Belong to the World” on MTV, critics and fans lit up social media platforms to discuss the apparent sampling from the Portishead 2008 track “Machine Gun.” Geoff Barrow of Portishead took to his Twitter feed to comment on the illegal use of samples from their song. He went on to imply that they previously denied the use of “Machine Gun” samples and The Weeknd ignored the refusal.

The Weeknd had not made a public comment denying or confirming the use of Portishead samples, while a firestorm festered on Barrow’s Twitter feed. Earlier this morning Barrow posted on his Twitter feed that he had received word from The Weeknd and he denies any use or sampling from the band. The possibility that The Weeknd recorded an entirely new beat recreating the “Machine Gun” sample after being denied the right to use it, is still in question. The Weeknd has yet to respond publicly to the latest accusations.

Seems The Weekend have said there is no sample used or enough likeness to Machine Gun to warrant any infringement….or credit.

— Geoff Barrow (@jetfury) July 17, 2013