If you watched season 2 of The Bear, you know that one episode saw Richie, played by Ebon Moss-Bachrach, trying to get Taylor Swift tickets for his daughter. When Moss-Bachrach was named Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy at Sunday’s Critics Choice Awards, he gave credit where credit is due.
For many, the highlight of the episode came when Richie belts out Taylor’s hit “Love Story” at the top of his lungs in his car, after having a life-changing conversation with a famous chef played by Oscar-winning British actress Olivia Colman. So, at the podium, Moss-Bachrach said, “I’ve gotta thank my two special scene partners this year, Olivia Colman and Taylor Swift.”
Over the summer, Josh Senior, executive producer of The Bear, told Billboard that it was much easier than expected to get the rights to the song.
When TV shows use previously recorded songs, they have to license them — a process known as “clearing,” which requires a lot of paperwork and sometimes a ton of money. But Senior explained, “Her team was like, ‘Great. This is cool. How much money do you have? You have that much money? Let’s go."”
“She was exceedingly generous and cool with one of our actors singing along to the song,” he adds of Taylor. “Those are things that sometimes people just say no to, and that was probably one of the easiest songs to clear.”
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