A little-known R&B singer is suing Taylor Swift for $42 million alleging that she stole his lyrics for her 2014 hit “Shake It Off.”
Jesse Braham, whose stage name is Jesse Graham, says Swift plagiarized the lyrics from his 2013 song “Haters Gone Hate.” “Her hook is the same hook as mine,” Graham, 50, told the Daily News. “If I didn’t write the song ‘Haters Gone Hate,’ there wouldn’t be a song called ‘Shake It Off.’”
Graham’s song contains the lyrics: “Haters gone hate, playas gone play. Watch out for them fakers, they’ll fake you everyday.” The chorus to Swift’s “Shake it Off” begins: “Cause the players gonna play, play, play, play, play. And the haters gonna hate, hate, hate, hate, hate.” Apart from the lyrics, the songs bear no musical similarities.
Graham, who, according to the Daily News also runs an organization called New Day Worldwide, said he also plans to sue CNN over the cable network’s show “New Day.”
A representative for Swift declined to comment to TIME.
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