Olivia Rodrigo is being called out by another artist for allegedly copying her album cover
art. Meanwhile, Ed Sheeran also just compared Olivia to another famous artist — soo let’s
break it all down!
As Olivia Rodrigo’s gearing up to drop her recently announced concert film, Sour Prom,
on YouTube this Tuesday, fellow artist Courtney Love began accusing her of, quote, "stealing
an original idea and not asking [for] permission…”
In case you aren’t familiar with Courtney Love, she’s a singer, songwriter, and actress
who was popular during the 80’s, 90’s, and early 2000’s,
It all started last Thursday when Courtney posted on her own Instagram the same exact
promo art Olivia shared on her socials a day before to get the word out about Sour Prom.
In the image we see Olivia wearing a tiara and holding a bouquet of flowers with traces
of mascara running down her face.
Courtney captioned her post, writing: "Spot the difference! #twinning!”, and not only
did she tag Olivia in it but she also topped it off with a winky face as well as two princess
emojis.
At first fans were confused if Courtney was giving Olivia a shout-out for her upcoming
project but after a few of her followers asked what she had meant, it all became clear…
By the way, it’s worth noting that Courtney’s post spanned across Instagram, Twitter and
Facebook and it was on the latter that someone commented, "I honestly can’t tell if you’re
mad or not bestie” to which Courtney replied: "She didn’t ask, so a bit of both. I dig
manners.”
Sooo, it turns out that Courtney was referring to the cover art of her band Hole's 1994 album
titled Live Through This where we also see what seems to be a prom queen donning a crown
and embracing a bouquet of flowers with smudged mascara.
In a follow up comment, Courtney called out Olivia for not reaching out to her or the
original photographer behind her album’s cover.
She said, quote: "It was rude of her, and Geffen not to ask myself or Ellen von Unwerth.
It's happened my whole career so i.d.c. But manners is manners.”
Courtney then doubled-down adding, quote: "Stealing an original idea and not asking
permission is rude. There's no way to be elegant about it. I'm not angry. It happens all the
time to me […] But this was bad form. That's not bullying or bomb throwing. This person’s
music has nothing to do with my life. Possibly never will. It was rude and I [h]ave every
right to stick up for my work…"
But in a turn of events, Olivia actually replied to Courtney’s original post on her IG with
a comment that read: “Love you and Live Through This sooooo much”.
Courtney followed with instructions on how Olivia can apologize to her in a comment that
read, quote: "Olivia-you're welcome. My favorite florist is in Notting Hill, London! Dm me
for deets! I look forward to reading your note!"
Wow, that’s a flex if I’ve ever seen one!
However some of Olivia’s fans called out Courtney for what they perceived as hypocrisy,
pointing out that Courtney herself had drawn inspiration from the 1976 horror classic Carrie
in which actress Sissy Spacek has a scene striking the same pose.
And though Courtney maintains that her cover art was her original idea, the photographer
that she kept referencing in the comments, Ellen von Unwerth, told Another Magazine in
2019 how decades ago Courtney had called her to re-enact the prom scene in the film Carrie
for the band’s album cover.
As Courtney continued fanning the flames, Olivia’s followers shared her Instagram
stories where she had included a photo of Sissy Spacek in Carrie as part of her inspiration
for her Sour Prom promo.
And it just so happens that this actually isn’t the first artist Olivia has been accused
of quote-on-quote ripping off for her latest project...
A few days ago we reported on how some of Pom Pom Squad’s fans believe that Olivia
was heavily influenced to the point of copying some of the Indie rock band’s visuals and
aesthetics to promote her album Sour.
When you reach the level of success that Olivia has this year, it unfortunately comes with
comparisons and criticisms.
But not all of them are negative or accusatory.
Ed Sheeran recently revealed that he loves Olivia’s music during an appearance on the
radio show Most Requested Live where he brought up how Olivia actually reminds him of another
artist:
“I don’t know if she would like this comparison but I’ve been saying for years that the
world needs another Avril Lavigne. You know like a -- a girl that rocks out, and that
writes her songs and she’s 17 and she’s like fantastic”
And like we said, the thing about being a new artist is that it’s common for people
to try to place them by drawing comparisons to other artists from the past as the new
faces make a name for themselves…
Hopefully Olivia can just drown out the noise on social media and focus on continuing to
make incredible music!
And now click right over here to find out why some fans believe Olivia copied Pom Pom
Squad’s aesthetics
Then hop to the comments and let me know ALL your thoughts on everything we covered in
this video. Does Olivia remind you of Avril Lavigne? Let us know.
As always, I’m your host Renee Ariel, you can follow me on socials @ReneeAriel, and
I’ll see ya next time!