Fans discovered an unusual surprise when a video surfaced showing Aaron Lewis’ upcoming album cover used as shredded packaging in a Taylor Swift merchandise box. Aaron Lewis, known as the frontman of Staind, addressed the strange occurrence after a fan shared an unboxing video revealing pieces of his album cover from his unreleased record Give Me Back My Country.

Lewis expressed his disbelief on social media, writing, “Oh look, there’s my new album, that hasn’t even been released yet, shredded as packaging paper in Taylor Swift merch.” He further explained that he had no prior knowledge of this incident, stating to USA Today, “I don’t have any social media…So I don’t see anything of that type of stuff. And when this was brought to me, I was just like, ‘What is going on? This is just weird.'”

The album is scheduled for release on July 17 through Big Machine Label Group. Despite not knowing how the mix-up happened, Lewis hopes it wasn’t an act of malice. “I hate to think it’s malicious, but at the same time, I don’t know that it’s not,” he commented. His disappointment stems from the breach of trust placed in distribution companies to handle artist materials responsibly.

Although the incident occurred through Taylor Swift’s merchandise, Lewis holds no grudge against her. He stated, “We live in two very, very different worlds. And she’s such a huge star that her world doesn’t intertwine with anyone’s worlds.” He emphasized that he was not attempting to involve Swift in the situation or promote his album through this event.

Representatives from Big Machine Label Group and Universal Music Group, who allegedly were responsible for overseeing the product and merchandising, have yet to respond to inquiries regarding the incident.