“Telephone” producer Rodney “Darkchild” Jerkins has confirmed that a widely circulated leak is, indeed, Britney Spears’ rough demo of what would later become Lady Gaga and Beyoncé’s hit single. “I really don’t know who leaked the version,” Jerkins said in a live online video chat noted by MTV News. “It was an early demo stage of the version. It wasn’t even a mixed version. I would never leak something without Britney’s approval, without [her manager] Larry Rudolph, without Jive Records. That’s just not how I get down.”
The alleged “Telephone” demo hit the Web this weekend, occasioning much hubbub and speculation about its authenticity. Was that really Britney’s voice singing the words we associate with Gaga and Beyoncé? The producer’s comments answer that question pretty definitively. Jerkins also included a teasing mention of Spears’ future plans, promising to “put 200 percent of my focus into writing a new smash for Britney’s new album.” Spears’ label, Jive Records, has not responded to EW’s repeated requests for comment on this story.
