A lawsuit filed against Taylor Swift last week claims that some of the lyrics from “Shake it Off” are actually from another song.Singer/songwriter Jesse Graham is seeking $42 million from Swift and co-writing credit on the song for using lyrics from his 2013 song, “Haters Gonna Hate.” According to BBC, the artist specifically believes three lines “Players gonna play, play, play, play, play/ and the haters gonna hate, hate, hate, hate, hate,” and, later in the song, “fakers gonna fake, fake, fake, fake, fake,” were ripped off from his song.
The chorus of Graham’s song includes the lyrics, “Haters gone hate, playas gone play/ Watch out for them fakers, they’ll fake you everyday.”
“Her hook is the same hook as mine,” Graham told the New York Daily News. “If I didn’t write the song ‘Haters Gone Hate,’ there wouldn’t be a song called ‘Shake It Off.'”
Graham apparently attempted to settle the dispute out of court before filing the lawsuit, requesting attribution and the chance to take a selfie with Swift. His requests were denied by her legal team.
To be fair, the songs do not sound anything alike aside from the lyrics. Of course, you should feel free to compare the two songs below and decide for yourself.
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