Taylor Swift is being sued by an R’n’B singer who claims she stole his lyrics for her hit song Shake It Off, according to reports.
New York Daily News reported that Jesse Braham, whose stage name is Jesse Graham, last week filed a $42 million (£27million) lawsuit against the pop star.
Graham, 50, alleges Swift’s chorus – "Cause the players gonna play, play, play, play, play / And the haters gonna hate, hate, hate, hate, hate" – was plagiarised from his lyrics “players gonna play” and “haters gonna hate” from his song Haters Gone Hate.
“Her hook is the same hook as mine,” Graham told the Daily News. “If I didn’t write the song Haters Gone Hate, there wouldn’t be a song called Shake It Off.”
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Despite Graham’s claims, the two songs bear few musical similarities.
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Graham has requested that Swift give him an official writing credit on the song and has asked for a selfie with the pop star but says he has been denied.
"At first I was going to let it go, but this song is my song all the way," he said.
Evening Standard Online has contacted a representative for Taylor Swift and is awaiting comment.