Calvin Harris criticises 'hurtful' Taylor Swift in row over hit song

She wrote the lyrics but I did the rest, says DJ, after magazine credits ex-girlfriend as writer of This Is What You Came For, his collaboration with Rihanna

The DJ and producer Calvin Harris has criticised his former girlfriend, pop star Taylor Swift, for making him “look bad” after a celebrity news publication reported that Swift had written Harris’s latest hit song under a pseudonym.

Citing Swift’s representative, People magazine said Swift had written This is What You Came For, which Harris released as a collaboration with singer Rihanna in April.

The magazine reported that Swift had written the song under the pseudonym Nils Sjoberg while the couple were dating, and that Swift became upset over an interview in which Harris said he did not think he would work with her in the future.

Representatives for Swift did not respond to Reuters for comment.

“Hurtful to me at this point that her and her team would go so far out of their way to try and make ME look bad at this stage though,” Harris said, in a series of tweets directed at Swift.

Harris had firstly praised Swift as an “amazing lyric writer” as he responded on Twitter to the People report.

And she sings on a little bit of it too 🙃
Amazing lyric writer and she smashed it as usual https://t.co/vW3yGOIJit

— Calvin Harris (@CalvinHarris) July 13, 2016

I wrote the music, produced the song, arranged it and cut the vocals though. And initially she wanted it kept secret, hence the pseudonym

— Calvin Harris (@CalvinHarris) July 13, 2016

Hurtful to me at this point that her and her team would go so far out of their way to try and make ME look bad at this stage though 🤔

— Calvin Harris (@CalvinHarris) July 13, 2016

I figure if you're happy in your new relationship you should focus on that instead of trying to tear your ex bf down for something to do

— Calvin Harris (@CalvinHarris) July 13, 2016

I know you're off tour and you need someone new to try and bury like Katy ETC but I'm not that guy, sorry. I won't allow it

— Calvin Harris (@CalvinHarris) July 13, 2016

After he accused Swift of trying to “bury” Katy Perry – referring to infamous animosity between the pair, rumoured to be at the heart of Swift’s song Bad Blood – Perry tweeted the following gif of Hillary Clinton, and retweeted her own post from May 2015: “Time, the ultimate truth teller.”

pic.twitter.com/m6ebYV8D1r

— KATY PERRY (@katyperry) July 13, 2016

Eager to show their allegiances, fans of Perry and Harris used the #TaylorSwiftIsOverParty hashtag on Twitter and took to Swift’s Instagram account posting snake emojis under her photos.

Taylor Swift’s fans countered the snakes with hearts.

Instagram post from Taylor Swift

Swift, 26, and Harris, 32, split up in June after dating for more than a year. Swift, named 2016’s highest-earning celebrity by Forbes magazine, has recently been photographed with the British actor Tom Hiddleston.

Representatives for Perry did not respond to requests for comment.

Reuters contributed to this report

Guardian staff and agencies

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