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A singer is calling out pop star Taylor Swift amid a lawsuit against the singer.
Swift, who was a mega mentor on “The Voice,” previously spoke out against the lawsuit. Swift was named in a lawsuit by the songwriters of the 3LW song “Playas Gon’ Play,” who claim that Swift stole lyrics for “Shake It Off,” according to court documents obtained by NPR.
Songwriters Sean Hall and Nathan Butler wrote “Playas Gon’ Play,” which released in 2000.
According to USA Today, the songwriters filed a lawsuit about copyright infringement in 2017, but that suit was originally dismissed in 2018. The judge at the time wrote that the lyrics were “too banal” to be stolen. An appeal reignited the case, however, and Swift’s December 2021 request for dismissal was denied with a judge stating the cases have “enough objective similarities.”
3LW Singer Kiely Williams Spoke Out About the Lawsuit
Kiely Williams, who was a member of the band 3LW, has spoken out about the lawsuit. In an Instagram Live quoted by BET, Williams, 36, said that she had nothing to do with the lawsuit and called for Swift to tell her fanbase that the members of the group were not involved.
“The point of all of this is to say and to educate you all since that’s not being done,” she said in the Live. “We didn’t write the song. We’re not suing Taylor Swift. We aren’t even a thing.”
She added, “I’m speaking for myself, but what’s right is right. [Adrienne and Naturi] didn’t write the song either. They don’t deserve any kind of flack for it and the whole bringing our actual names into it. I really felt compelled just because it’s been escalating. I’ve been watching it and I’m like, ‘Oh, I don’t care. I don’t care. I don’t care. I’m good.’ But like what? Okay. You’ve never heard of [the song]. Okay, that’s your defense. That’s fine. But please educate people on the fact that it has nothing to do with us.”
The singer said the lawsuit has been “inflammatory” because the name of the group has been brought into it.
“Because now, once you bring the group’s name into it, it becomes like these money-grabbing b****es are just trying to take some of Taylor’s coins. Nope. I don’t want her coins.”
The Lawsuit Calls Into Question Swift’s Lyrics
The lawsuit filed against Swift alleges she stole lyrics from the 2001 song. They point to the lyrics “playas, they gonna play, and haters, they gonna hate.” In “Shake It Off,” Swift sings, “the players gonna play, play, play” and “the haters gonna hate, hate, hate.”
Swift’s response to the suit says that the phrases “players gonna play” and “haters gonna hate” are both in popular culture and were at the time of her writing the song and she wrote it about “independence and ‘shaking off’ negative personal criticism through music and dance.”
“In writing the lyrics, I drew partly on experiences in my life and, in particular, unrelenting public scrutiny of my personal life, ‘clickbait’ reporting, public manipulation, and other forms of negative personal criticism which I learned I just needed to shake off and focus on my music,” Swift said in the response, per NPR.
Swift points to Eric Church’s song “The Outsiders,” which does include the lyrics “the player’s gonna play and a hater’s gonna hate.” The song was performed at the Country Music Awards in 2013, one year before “Shake It Off” was released.
In 2013 as well, Swift wore a t-shirt that featured a unicorn with a thought bubble stating “haters gonna hate.” The star says she purchased the shirt at Urban Outfitters.
“The Voice” is set to return to NBC on September 19, 2022. The season will feature coaches Blake Shelton, Gwen Stefani, Camila Cabello, and John Legend.
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