Marc Maron has revealed that he shelled out $50,000 (£37,000) to use a Taylor Swift song in his upcoming stand-up special.
The comedian and podcaster handed over the hefty sum because he felt like he needed Swift's 2022 song Bigger Than the Whole Sky for a pivotal moment in Marc Maron: Panicked.
He revealed on Vulture's Good One podcast that he reached out to the pop superstar's frequent collaborator Jack Antonoff about licensing the track.
"I know Jack Antonoff enough to text him - and he's the co-writer on that song," Maron explained. "I said, 'I don't know what's proper or how to do this, but we're running out of money on this thing. It's probably going to come out of my pocket. Is there anything you can do about this song or talk to Taylor?'"
Antonoff advised the WTF with Marc Maron host to go through official music licensing channels, and he was ultimately given approval to use the emotional ballad - but only a minute of it.
"I would have gone over the minute, (but) it would have been more money," he added.
Maron noted that he wouldn't have been able to do a bit in the special if Swift's team hadn't signed off on the song and his joke.
"It had to happen," he stated. "The real fear (was), like, (if) she doesn't let you use it, and then what do you do? You can't do the bit on the special."
Bigger Than the Whole Sky, an emotional song that deals with grief and heartache, appears on the 3am Edition of Swift's 2022 album Midnights.
Marc Maron: Panicked premieres on HBO on Friday 1 August.
