3LW’s Kiely Williams Speaks Out Lawsuit Against Taylor Swift
Singer-songwriter Taylor Swift is being sued over her 2014 single “Shake It Off.” A lawsuit claims she stole the lyrics from girl group 3LW’s 2000 track “Playas Gon’ Play,” which peaked at No. 81 on the Billboard Hot 100. Now, Kiely Williams, who was in 3LW, is speaking out.
On her Instagram Live, the 36-year-old made it clear that she has nothing to do with the lawsuit. However, she is calling on Swift to inform her fans that three members of 3LW had nothing to do with the song in question.
“The point of all of this is to say and to educate you all since that’s not being done. We didn’t write the song. We’re not suing Taylor Swift. We aren’t even a thing,” said Williams.
“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.”
She continued, “When you say things like that, it’s inflammatory. Because now, once you bring the group’s name into it, it becomes like these money-grabbing bitches are just trying to take some of Taylor’s coins. Nope. I don’t want her coins.”
See the video below:
According to PEOPLE, songwriters Sean Hall and Nathan Butler, filed the suit against Swift back in 2017 and claim that her lyrics, "'Cause the players gonna play, play, play, play, play / And the haters gonna hate, hate, hate, hate, hate," were stolen from 3LW's "Playas Gon' Play," which features the lyrics, "The playas gon' play / Them haters gonna hate" and "Playas, they gonna play / And haters, they gonna hate."
In a declaration filed on Aug. 8, Swift said never heard of the girl group 3LW, which featured Adrienne Bailon, Kiely Williams, and Naturi Naughton.
The 32-year-old also maintains she wrote all of the lyrics to “Shake It Off” and added that the hit is “about independence and 'shaking off' negative personal criticism through music and dance.”
Swift also stated, “Prior to writing 'Shake It Off,' I had heard the phrases 'players gonna play' and 'haters gonna hate' uttered countless times to express the idea that one can or should shrug off negativity.”
The lawsuit was dismissed in 2018, saying that the lyrics were “too banal” to be plagiarized, an appeal panel reopened the case in 2019 after a judge believed that both songs had “enough objective similarities” for the case to move forward.
