Pop star Taylor Swift is reportedly being sued for US$42 million (S$59 million) for allegedly stealing lyrics for her mega hit, Shake It Off, from her album 1989, released last year.
US R&B singer Jesse Braham, whose stage name is Jesse Graham, claims that Swift blatantly lifted the phrases "haters gone hate" and "playas gone play" from his 2013 track.
"Her hook is the same hook as mine," Braham 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. The single by Swift has over 1.1 billion hits on YouTube to date.
Braham added that there was "no way" that Swift could have penned the lyrics independently of his song and that he first noticed the similarities between both tracks when she performed the song on the Ellen Degeneres Show.
He is now seeking a cash compensation after his initial requests to have a selfie with the pop star and to be credited as a writer of the track were rejected.
This is the second legal case in the past week that involves Swift. Earlier, the singer accused a radio host of groping her.
