Ariana Grande Sues Forever 21 for $10 Million Over Look-alike Model Ads and Video Campaign

The lawsuit says photos and videos using the singer’s name, music and likeness were used to sell merchandise without her approval

Ariana Grande
Mike Coppola/Getty Images

Ariana Grande is suing clothing retailer Forever 21 for its unauthorized use of her likeness and lyrics from her song, “7 Rings,” in a recent ad campaign to sell new merchandise.

According to the lawsuit obtained by TheWrap, the singer is asking for $10 million for the supposed misappropriation.

In documents filed in Los Angeles federal court on Monday, the singer accused Forever 21 and the Riley Rose cosmetics company, which was founded by the daughters of Forever 21’s founders, of using at least 30 unauthorized, Grande-related pictures and videos in its marketing campaign.

The lawsuit said photos and videos feature the singer’s name, music and likeness, which would lead her fans to believe that Grande is backing the new line. Grande also said that the company used a look-alike model similar to her to recreate scenes and shots from her hit album “Thank U, Next” and music from one of the album’s songs, “7 Rings”.

According to the lawsuit, the incident occurred after the singer and Forever 21 failed to agree on terms of a joint marketing campaign beginning in December 2018 and Grande said the company did not want to pay her for using her image.

Grande and the company didn’t immediately respond to TheWrap’s request for comment.

Pamela Chelin contributed to this report

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