Pete Tong responds to John Summit remix controversy, claims allegations "aren't supported by the facts"

Pete Tong has made a statement after John Summit accused him of stealing his remix of Everything But The Girl's 'Missing', claiming that the allegations are "simply not supported by the facts".

Last week (July 8), Summit accused the BBC Radio 1 broadcaster of of "promising to release" his remix of Everything But The Girl's 'Missing', and then "jacking" it.

Franky Rizardo, who was set to release a collaborative version of the same track with Tong, later announced that he was "withdrawing" from its release, writing: "After learning more today about the background surrounding this release, I’ve come to the conclusion that it no longer feels right for me to be part of it."

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In a statement provided to Mixmag, a representative for Tong said: "Over the last week there has been a lot of discussion online regarding Pete Tong, 'Missing' by Everything But The Girl, and comments made by John Summit."

The statement claims that Tong "became aware" of both Rizardo and Summit's club versions of the track while researching, with aims to include a version of 'Missing' in his Ibiza Classics UK arena tour this winter.

Tong's spokesperson says that Rizardo's version was a "newly recorded production", and reflected the "style of the version Franky had created and been playing in his sets, but did not contain orchestral elements and did not use John Summit's work".

"At the same time, Pete and John Summit discussed a separate concept involving an orchestral interpretation for Ibiza Classics," the statement adds, claiming that the conversations "did not progress beyond an initial exchange of ideas".

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"By mid-May we were informed that John's team had been unable to engage him further on the project, and the discussions effectively came to a halt," they said.

"This week, John publicly accused Pete of having copied or stolen his remix. Those allegations are simply not supported by the facts."

On Friday (July 10), Tong also shared an interview with Pete Tong DJ Academy CEO Alex Tripi, in which he shared screenshots of an email exchange with John Summit's management dated to May, where he discussed releasing Rizardo's remix before a separate rework from John Summit later in the summer.

Watch the full interview below.

Megan Townsend is Mixmag's Deputy Editor, get in touch with her here.