There’s only one Ariana Grande — and she’s suing Forever 21 for allegedly hiring an Ari look-alike to model its recent social media campaign!
The Sweetener songstress has filed a Grande-sized lawsuit against the fashion retailer in which she’s seeking at least $10 million in damages.
According to the complaint filed in California federal court, Forever 21 contacted the singer’s team ahead of her latest album, thank u, next, in hopes of landing an endorsement deal with her “centered around social media marketing, including, but not limited to, Twitter posts, Instagram posts, and Instagram stories.”
This deal reportedly never came to fruition because, as the complaint states, “the amounts that Forever 21 offered to pay for the right to use Ms. Grande’s name and likeness were insufficient for an artist of her stature.”
Related: Ariana Cancels Fan Event Amid Mental Health Struggles
Basically, Forever 21 couldn’t afford Ari for its campaign — so instead, the store allegedly “stole it by launching a misleading campaign across its website and social media platforms primarily in January and February 2019,” the complaint argues.
The Grammy winner’s legal representatives went on to claim:
“The campaign capitalized on the concurrent success of Ms. Grande’s album Thank U, Next by publishing 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.”
How did they do that, you ask? According to team Grande, Forever 21 took a model who looks “strikingly similar” to the 26-year-old pop star and adorned her with a hairstyle and hair accessories Ari wore in her 7 rings music video.
In addition to the allegedly ripped off aesthetics, the artist’s team claims the company’s post — which has since been deleted from its page — played the 7 rings audio and included lyrics from the song in the caption!
Hmmm…
The star’s legal representative Daniel Petrocelli claims the store’s actions constitute a violation of California’s right of publicity statute, false endorsement under the Lanham Act, trademark infringement, and copyright infringement.
While her deal with Forever 21 fell through, the artist has since landed a lucrative partnership with rival retailer H&M — which was unveiled a few months ago. The 33-piece Ariana Grande collection celebrates the star’s thank u, next album with clothing and accessories inspired by Ari’s hits like 7 rings and the title track thank u, next.
As seen on H&M’s Instagram page (below), the collection is full of hooded pink sweaters and form-fitting cycling shorts — all donned by models rocking Ari’s iconic ponytail, of course:
Sure, Ari didn’t *invent* pink hair accessories, but Forever 21 wasn’t exactly subtle about lifting the star’s 7 rings aesthetic for the post in question (see the comparison HERE). The post, which was shared on February 8, allegedly included the caption:
“Gee thanks, just bought it!”
But Forever 21 didn’t buy it, ironically — and now the store might have to pay up anyway!
Moral of the story: do NOT misappropriate Miss Ariana Grande without suffering the financial consequences.
[Image via YouTube]
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