A songwriter is claiming Ed Sheeran ripped off his music, stating that the first time he heard Shape of You he was so shocked that he and his girlfriend, who were driving together at the time, had to pull their car over.
Sami Chokri said his legal row with the music star was ‘one of the most horrible weeks of my life’ during a hearing in London on Monday.
Chokri, who performs under the name Sami Switch, claims Shape of You infringes ‘particular lines and phrases’ of his 2015 track Oh Why. He and his co-writer Ross O’Donoghue argue that a central ‘Oh I’ hook in Sheeran’s song is ‘strikingly similar to an ‘Oh Why’ refrain in their own composition.
Sheeran and his co-authors, producer Steven McCutcheon and Snow Patrol’s John McDaid, deny allegations of copying and say they do not remember hearing Oh Why before the legal fight.
Chokri says he was hurt by the tone of Sheeran’s lawyers’ emails after he noticed similarities between his song Oh Why and Sheeran’s Shape Of You.
“I feel like I’ve been robbed by someone I respect, or respected,” he told the court.
“This is years of a cloud over my head. All I heard and read was emails belittling me and my questions.”
He continued: “All I wanted to do was ask for an explanation. If I’d had one we wouldn’t have had to go through with this rubbish.”