Taylor Swift Says ‘Shake It Off’ Lyrics ‘Were Written Entirely By Me’ Amid Copyright Lawsuit

etcanada.com:

Taylor Swift wants to make something very clear: her 2014 hit “Shake It Off” was “written entirely” by her and no one else. Swift, 32, made her statement in a sworn declaration on Monday, August 8, as she fights allegations of copyright infringement, according to a report from Billboard.

The artist was sued in 2017 by songwriters Sean Hall and Nathan Butler who claim Swift cribbed her lyrics from their 2001 track, “Playas Gon’ Play”, performed by 3LW.

In “Shake It Off,” Swift sings, “‘Cause the players gonna play, play, play, play, play and the haters gonna hate, hate, hate, hate, hate.” Meanwhile, “Playas Gon’ Play” features the line, “playas, they gonna play” and “haters, they gonna hate.” Explaining the origins of her song, Swift told the judge, “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.” READ MORE: Taylor Swift Responds To Topping The List of Celebrity Private Jet Offenders The singer-songwriter added that she had heard phrases about ‘players playing’ and ‘haters hating’ “countless times”  throughout her life. “I recall hearing phrases about players play and haters hate stated together by other children while attending school in Wyomissing Hills, and in high school in Hendersonville,” Swift wrote. “These phrases were akin to other commonly used sayings like ‘don’t hate the playa, hate the game,’ ‘take a chill pill,’ and ‘say it, don’t spray it.’” The “August” singer also said that she “had never heard the song ‘Playas Gon’ Play’ and had never heard of that song or the