Taylor Swift knew Jesse Braham (known by his stage name Jesse Graham) was trouble when he walked in with a lawsuit, but luckily the pop star was able to shake off his claims.
On November 2nd, Braham filed a lawsuit against Swift, “claiming the single [‘Shake It Off’] off her 2014 album, 1989, contains a 22-word phrase lifted from Braham’s 2013 track ‘Haters Gone Hate,'” according to Mic. He sued for $42 million in damages and songwriter credit, after “his requests for both songwriting credit and a selfie with Swift were shut down,” says Mashable.
The lyrics in question?
“Cause the players gonna play, play, play, play, play/ And the haters gonna hate, hate, hate, hate, hate/… And the fakers gonna fake, fake, fake, fake, fake” versus “Haters gone hate, playas gone play. Watch out for them fakers, they’ll fake you everyday.”
A basic Google search will lead you to the conclusion that the phrases “players gonna play” and “haters gonna hate” are not the sole invention of Braham, and that is is exactly what the judge said when she reviewed the case.
The best part of this whole situation? Gail J. Standish, United States Magistrate Judge for the Central District of California, dismissed the case in the most Taylor Swift pun-tastic way possible: “At the present, the Court is not saying that Braham can never, ever, ever get his case back in court…. At least for the moment, Defendants have shaken off this lawsuit.”
A ridiculous Taylor Swift dismissal order is the only way to toss out a ridiculous Taylor Swift #copyright lawsuit. pic.twitter.com/5JAc7iAzVz
— Bill Donahue (@Bill__Donahue) November 12, 2015
