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Ariana Grande’s $10 million lawsuit against Forever 21 over false endorsement, trademark infringement, and copyright infringement is currently on hold after Forever 21 filed for bankruptcy.
What’s up you guys? Happy Friday, it’s Sussan Mourad here with Clevver News and in case you forgot, Forever 21 pretty much stole Ariana Grande’s iconic look from ‘7 Rings’ and tried to sell it as their own look. This is what lead to their now infamous $10 million lawsuit with Ari.
Before all of this, Ariana was actually originally working on a potential collaboration with the brand back in late 2018/early 2019, but it fell through because Forever 21 was unwilling to quote, “pay the fair market value for a celebrity of Ms. Grande’s stature.”
And even though the deal fell through, Forever 21 still went ahead and used Ari’s image and likeness.
According to the lawsuit, Ariana’s team said that Forever 21 launched a quote “unauthorized marketing campaign” using her photos and “falsely suggested” her participation in the campaign by hiring a model who looks a lot like her.
I mean… do you think this looks like Ari in the 7 rings video?
And the caption does read, “gee thanks just bought it” which is literally one of Ariana’s lyrics sooo yeah, I’d say it’s a bit questionable.
And in the lawsuit, Ariana’s lawyers also referenced images from her “7 Rings” video posted to the Forever 21 Instagram account, which have since been deleted.
They said that rather than paying Ariana what she was owed to use her likeness, Forever 21 quote “simply stole it by launching a misleading campaign across its website and social media platforms” which was capitalizing on the success of Ariana’s album.
So naturally, Ariana sued Forever 21 for $10 million, which is what she believes she is owed for using her image and likeness. In a nutshell, she accused them of ripping her off after their potential endorsement deal fell apart.
And as I’m sure you’ve heard, since Ariana’s lawsuit was initially filed, Forever 21 filed for bankruptcy and now we’ve learned the entire lawsuit is on hold.
According to court documents obtained by The Blast, Forever 21 notified Ariana and her team that her lawsuit against them has to be put on pause because of their recent bankruptcy filing.
Forever 21 filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on September 29 and a bankruptcy causes any pending lawsuits paused.
Cases cannot move forward until decisions are made in the Chapter 11 bankruptcy case.
So basically, Forever 21 said thank u, next to Ariana and told her that she will have to wait until their bankruptcy is resolved to move forward with her getting ANY money from them.
Sounds like a lose lose situation if you ask me.
But this isn’t the only legal case Ariana has been involved in recently.
Over the summer she was sued for $50,000 for posting a paparazzi pic of herself. Something that many celebs have been sued for.
It’s something I will never fully understand. Like… Ariana Grande was sued for posting a picture of Ariana Grande.
But she isn’t alone… many celebs have been sued for this exact same reason.
J. Lo, Gigi Hadid, and Khloé Kardashian have also all been sued for posting pictures of themselves that a paparazzi photographer took.
Because apparently, being in a photo doesn’t necessarily mean you have the right to post it on social media…. I know, weird.
Anyway, photo agencies have been aggressively pursuing legal action against celebrities who use paparazzi images without permission.
Which, in my opinion, adds to the tension that already exists between celebs and the very persistent and sometimes aggressive paparazzi photographers.
Like if you’re going to follow someone and essentially stalk them, you would think it’s fair for that person to be able to post the pic you got. But it doesn’t work that way.
Khloe was sued for $25,000, J. Lo was sued for up to $150,000, and Ariana was sued for $50,000, but recently reached a settlement with the photographer to end the legal battle.
According to court documents obtained by The Blast in late July, the photographer Robert Barbera dismissed all claims against Ariana.
Let me know what you think down in the comments below.
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