Ariana Grande might not think retail therapy at Forever 21 is her new addiction.
She is suing Forever 21 for US$10 million over the company using an “uncanny” lookalike of her during one of its advertisement campaigns, according to a lawsuit filed in a U.S. District Court.
The Grammy-award-winning songstress said the struggling clothing retailer stole her image in a social media advertising campaign after the two couldn’t come up with an endorsement deal, according to court documents uncovered by The Hollywood Reporter.
Forever 21 has denied the allegations in a statement it provided to several media outlets.
The singer claims that Forever 21 representatives reached out to her last year in anticipation of her latest album, “thank u next” which dropped in Feb. 2019.
But Grande’s lawyers assert that despite her popularity, the company didn’t offer her enough money.
“Even a single social media post by Ms. Grande can garner fees of several hundred thousand dollars, and her longer-term endorsement arrangements command fees in the millions of dollars,” the lawsuit alleged.
Despite the deal falling through, Grande’s lawyers allege that Forever 21 then went ahead and used a “strikingly similar” model in an ad campaign on its website and social media platforms in late 2018 and early this year.
ONE SOCIAL MEDIA POST FROM GRANDE WORTH SIX FIGURES: HER LAWYER
Besides using a similar-looking model, the lawsuit alleged Forever 21 also imitated colour schemes, iconography and images that bear a strong resemblance to Grande’s music video for her single “7 Rings.”
One screenshot in the lawsuit even shows a Forever 21 Instagram post that quoted the song’s lyric: “Gee thanks, just bought it!”
The lawsuit claims the company ended up using “at least 30 unauthorized images and videos misappropriating Ms. Grande’s name, image, likeness, and music in order to create the false perception of her endorsement."
(On the left of this composite image is a screenshot of Forever 21's now-deleted social media post; on the right, a screenshot from Ariana Grande's '7 Rings' music video)
In February, Grande’s lawyers reached out to Forever 21 who agreed to take down all the posts, but some images remained on social media until mid-April, according to the lawsuit.
Although a Forever 21 representative told several outlets it doesn’t comment on pending litigation, it also issued a statement addressing the lawsuit.
“While we dispute the allegations, we are huge supporters of Ariana Grande and have worked with her licensing company over the past two years. We are hopeful that we will find a mutually agreeable resolution and can continue to work together in the future,” the statement read.
