The songwriter accusing Ed Sheeran of plagiarism testified Monday that he felt “robbed by someone I respect, or respected.”
Sami Chokri said the trial has been “the most horrible few weeks of my life” and said “this rubbish” could have been avoided if Sheeran’s reps had been more conciliatory.
“All I heard and read was emails belittling me and my questions,” he said, according to BBC News. “All I wanted to do was ask for an explanation.”
Chokri and Ross O’Donoghue allege the melody of their 2015 song “Oh Why” was stolen for Sheeran’s 2017’s hit “Shape Of You.”
Chokri said he was in a car with his girlfriend in 2017 when “Shape of You” came on the radio. “She and I were both shocked to hear the similarities,” he recalled.
Chokri later made a Facebook post in which he asked if anyone else thought the chorus of Sheeran’s song sounded familiar. Sheeran’s friend Jamal Edwards commented with the “shifty eyes” emoji, which he later deleted.
“I thought maybe he had played a part in showing [my song] to Ed,” Chokri testified.
Before his death last month, Edwards gave a written statement in which he denied playing ‘Oh Why’ to Sheeran. Chokri said in court he believes “Jamal would share music with Ed Sheeran.”
Last week, Sheeran and co-writer Johnny McDaid testified they had never heard “Oh Why” and that the “oh I” melody in their song was similar to many other songs.
Sheeran insisted: “I have been as scrupulous as I possibly can and have even given credits to people who I believe may have been no more than a mere influence for a songwriting element. This is because I want to treat other songwriters fairly.”
The trial continues.