Ed Sheeran’s federal copyright trial was thrown into disarray Wednesday when the woman accusing him of ripping off Marvin Gaye’s “Let’s Get it On” suddenly collapsed in court and had to be carried out by several people.
Kathryn Townsend Griffin — the daughter of late Ed Townsend, who co-wrote the iconic 1973 soul classic — fainted in the lower Manhattan courtroom just as Sheeran’s attorneys began cross-examining a music expert testifying about the song’s composition.
Townsend Griffin, who claims Sheeran’s 2014 hit “Thinking Out Loud” lifted parts of her dad’s song, was leaving the courtroom when she abruptly fell.
She was lifted by her arms and legs by a few men in the gallery before receiving medical attention, and eventually being taken out of court in a stretcher.
The “Shape of You” singer, 32, watched closely as Townsend Griffin was helped out of the stunned courtroom.
The shocking incident sparked an approximately seven-minute delay before Judge Louis Stanton ordered the proceedings to continue.
Ed Sheeran leaves New York Federal Court as proceedings are suspended for the day in his copyright infringement trial. Alec Tabak
EMTs wheel a stretcher from the Moynihan Courthouse on April 26, 2023 in New York Alec Tabak
Kathryn Townsend Griffin speaks outside New York Federal Court during a copyright infringement trial against singer Ed Sheeran on April 26, 2023. APSheeran’s lawyer Ilene Farkas then grilled musicologist Alexander Stewart, who testified that the British singer-songwriter’s “Thinking Out Loud” contained similar parts to Gaye’s hit song.
Stewart told jurors the two songs “have the same harmonic rhythm,” and outlined melodic similarities in three areas – verse, chorus and interlude.
A bizarre, computer-generated rendition of “Let’s Get it On” was played in court during Stewart’s testimony, which lasted the entire day.
Sheeran is being accused of ripping off Marvin Gaye’s hit song “Let’s Get it On.” APTownsend Griffin — wearing a beige coat with “Dignity” spelled on the back — had said during an earlier break in the proceeding that the AI version of the song would have had her dad “laughing” if he heard it.
A lawyer for Townsend Griffin didn’t explain what caused her to faint later, but said she has a “pre-existing medical condition that she’s dealing with.”
Sheeran took the stand Tuesday, testifying that he’d have to be an “idiot” to rip off Gaye’s song and then perform it in front of thousands of fans.
Townsend Griffin’s attorney Ben Crump, in his opening statement, had claimed Sheeran gave a “confession” when he performed a mash up version of his song and Gaye’s during a 2014 concert in Switzerland. Crump called a video of the live performance the “smoking gun” in the lawsuit.
