Eric Church looked back on his unexpected involvement in the lawsuit over Taylor Swift‘s hit single “Shake It Off” in a new interview.
The authors of 3LW’s 2001 track “Playas Gon’ Play,” Sean Hall and Nathan Butler, accused the celebrity of copyright infringement back in 2017.
When discussing the lyric, “Players gonna play, haters gonna hate,” in her deposition, the country singer stated, “The first time I heard that phrase was in Eric Church’s song ‘The Outsiders.'” She clarified this in an interview with Rolling Stone that was published on Friday, June 6. They were suing her because, according to her, she never heard it on [the 3LW song]. And the people who were suing her served me two weeks later!
Church claims that he texted Swift after receiving a slap with his own legal documents. “I said, ‘Hey, thanks.'” “Let’s just skip that part next time,” he remarked. “I apologize,” she texted me. But it’s the truth. I heard the phrase at that point.
Regarding his personal involvement, Church continued, “It’s since been settled.” The “Hands of Time” singer did, however, end the conversation by saying that he was still left thinking, “How did this even happen?”
Church has released his eighth studio album, 2025’s Evangeline vs. the Machine, which he will be promoting this fall with his upcoming Free the Machine Tour, following an agreement between Swift, Hall, and Butler to drop the “Shake It Off” lawsuit in late 2022.
In a recent interview with the Rolling Stone, Church defended Bruce Springsteen after the namesake of his popular 2011 single “Springsteen” attacked President Trump and his administration at a concert. Church also worked with Morgan Wallen on the I’m the Problem album cut “Number 3 and Number 7.”
