American singer Ariana Grande is suing American fashion retailer Forever 21, alleging the company attempted to trick customers into thinking Grande has partnered with the brand by posting photos which used a “strikingly similar” look-alike model and captions that included Grande lyrics.
Earlier this year, the fashion giant attempted to sign a social media endorsement deal with Grande, but the deal fell through, and the company is alleged to have simply launched the look-alike campaign in its place.
Now, Grande is claiming $10 million USD in damages from Forever 21. The lawsuit centres around images from the music video for Grande’s Thank U, Next single ‘7 Rings’, which depicts a pink-tinged house party with Grande and friends.
The lawsuit, filed on Monday, identifies an Instagram post from Forever 21 which includes snapshots from the video, and advertisements in which the look-alike model is dressed in a way that mimics Grande in the video. Posts also included captions that contained the lyric “Gee thanks, just bought it” from ‘7 Rings’.
“Rather than pay for that right [to use her name and likeness] as the law requires, Defendants simply stole it by launching a misleading campaign across its website and social media platforms,” the lawsuit alleges.
Decide for yourself by seeing a comparison of Forever 21’s Instagram post and imagery from ‘7 Rings’ below via New York Times.
