‘Everybody hurts, sometimes,’ tweeted NSW premier, after removal of video link of him reading tweets with REM song playing in the background

This article is more than 5 years old

This article is more than 5 years old

NSW premier Mike Baird has taken a tongue-in-cheek approach to copyright wrangles after YouTube pulled a clip of him reading out mean tweets about himself.



“Fact: everybody hurts, sometimes,” the premier tweeted on Friday, citing the REM song that appears to have caused the fuss.



On Thursday, Baird tweeted a video link of him reading mean tweets, a take-off of US talk show host Jimmy Kimmel’s popular videos.



Everybody Hurts by REM played in the background as Baird read the hate mail, including a tweet that said: “You look like the ‘smiling assassin’. Your charming smile hides your black, Liberal heart.”



But by Friday, YouTube had pulled the clip, citing a copyright claim by Warner Chappell, which publishes the US band’s music.



“Mean tweets video removed,” Baird tweeted on Friday. “Working with YouTube and Warner to resolve. Fact: everybody hurts, sometimes.”

Mike Baird (@mikebairdMP) Mean tweets video removed. Working with YouTube and Warner to resolve. Fact: everybody hurts, sometimes.

During the video, which has been copied and is again available on the video-sharing site, Baird cracks up at one tweet that suggested he was the devil.



“Mike Baird, I knew you were in Newcastle yesterday coz I could smell the stench of sulfur coming from your pitch fork from over 10 miles away,” he read, breaking into laughter.



“This guy should be a writer, I like that, that’s actually quite clever.”



He appeared confused about a tweet that said “The Premier hates Justin Bieber”.



“Yeah, of course I hate Justin Bieber. Who doesn’t hate Justin Bieber?”



He said his daughters were Taylor Swift fans and they had given him sage Swifty advice about trolling: just shake it off.



The video even had a blooper reel at the end – to the tune of Swift’s hit song.



Warner Chappell is also responsible for Swift.