Ed Sheeran was left looking confused in court after a brand new song was played by mistake during his “Shape of You” trial.
The singer-songwriter was “disconcerted” after an error resulted in the never-before-heard track being heard by those present in the High Court on Tuesday (8 March).
Sheeran, looking at his lawyers, said: “That’s a song I wrote last January. How have you got that?”
The moment occurred as Sheeran faced questions from the lawyers of two songwriters who claim that Sheeran stole parts of their song for his 2017 hit “Shape of You”.
Ian Mill QC, Sheeran’s barrister, told the court that the song had been played “by mistake” after being acquired via the laptop of the “Shape of You” co-songwriter Steven McCutcheon, which “contains some unreleased material”.
Mill stated “I’m sure it won’t happen again,” adding that Sheeran had been issued an apology.
Songwriters Sami Chokri and Ross O’Donoghue have accused Sheeran of stealing elements of “Shape of You” from their own song, titled “Oh Why”.
The pair allege that the song has taken “particular lines and phrases” from their own, claiming that Sheeran’s refrain of the words “Oh I” is “strikingly similar” to their delivery of the words “Oh why”.
Since the start of the lawsuit in 2018, the royalties from the song, estimated to be around £20m, have been frozen.
During the trial, Sheeran, who was branded a “magpie” who “borrows” other musician’s ideas, performed other songs, including Blackstreet’s “No Diggity” and Nina Simone’s “Feeling Good”, in an attempt to demonstrate how common the song’s melody is.
