Ariana Grande is suing Forever 21 for $10 million in damages alleging that it used her likeness in a recent social media campaign.
In the complaint filed in California federal court, Grande said that the clothing retailer used her likeness after a previous marketing agreement between the two "never came to fruition," according to the complaint, which was obtained by The Hollywood Reporter. The complaint says:
<span class="wsc-grammar-problem" data-grammar-phrase='"' data-grammar-rule="EN_QUOTES" data-wsc-lang="en_US">"</span>Negotiations between Forever 21 and Ms. Grande's representatives took place in or around December 2018 and January 2019, but the proposed endorsement deal never came to fruition because 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. Ms. Grande's representatives communicated as much to Forever 21.<span class="wsc-grammar-problem" data-grammar-phrase='"' data-grammar-rule="EN_QUOTES" data-wsc-lang="en_US">"</span>
The complaint says that Forever 21 ran a misleading campaign on social media to "create the false perception of her endorsement." The complaint says:
"Rather than pay for that right as the law requires, defendants simply stole it by launching a misleading campaign across its website and social media platforms primarily in January and February 2019. 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.<span class="wsc-grammar-problem" data-grammar-phrase='"' data-grammar-rule="EN_QUOTES" data-wsc-lang="en_US">"</span>
The suit also alleges that Forever 21 used a model who looked "strikingly similar to Ms. Grande" and who had the same hairstyle as Grande in her "7 Rings" video.
Forever 21 wrote to CNN in response to the suit:
<span class="wsc-grammar-problem" data-grammar-phrase='"' data-grammar-rule="EN_QUOTES" data-wsc-lang="en_US">"</span>Forever 21 does not comment on pending litigation as per company policy. That said, while we dispute the allegations, we are huge supporters of <span class="wsc-spelling-problem" data-spelling-word="Ariana" data-wsc-lang="en_US">Ariana</span> 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.<span class="wsc-grammar-problem" data-grammar-phrase='"' data-grammar-rule="EN_QUOTES" data-wsc-lang="en_US">"</span>
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