The daily gossip: November 15, 2019

Taylor Swift says her record label is holding her music hostage, actors have been cast to play Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, and more

1. Taylor Swift says her record label is holding her songs hostage

In a dramatic shot across the bow of her former label Big Machine, pop star Taylor Swift took to social media to allege that she's not being allowed to use or perform her older songs in some upcoming television specials. It's the latest salvo in a complicated and ongoing fight between Swift and the label, which owns the rights to Swift's back catalogue until November of 2020, at which point Swift plans to rerecord all her old songs. This is normally where we'd suggest that the haters are gonna hate, and Swift should be allowed to play, play, play — but honestly, we're not sure she has the rights to that song right now.

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Scott Meslow

Scott Meslow is the entertainment editor for TheWeek.com. He has written about film and television at publications including The Atlantic, POLITICO Magazine, and Vulture.