In a Monday social media post, Beyoncé was accused of borrowing some of the most striking outfits from her popular Renaissance Tour - without permission.
The 42-year-old hitmaker, whose concert film bombed at the box office in its second weekend, is accused by Japanese artist Hajime Sorayama on Instagram of stealing parts of his concepts for a metallic body suit and helmet that she has been wearing on recent tour dates.
Along with drawings that the 76-year-old artist had previously done, he posted images from her shows featuring her in a dazzling silver helmet with antenna-like spikes protruding out over her ears. The illustrations by Sorayama, which portrayed ladies dressed in silver costumes and donning helmets resembling needle-shaped spikes protruding from their ears, were reminiscent of classic science fiction drawings from the mid-20th century.
But in the comments, BeyHive members chastised the artist, pointing out that some of his own drawings seemed significantly influenced by previous science fiction conceptual artwork, which might have also influenced Beyoncé.
"Yo @beyonce. You should have asked me "officially" so that I could make much better work for you as like my man @theweeknd," Sorayama captioned his Instagram post.
He had previously worked with The Weeknd to create a fresh cover for the mixtape Echoes of Silence, which was reissued on its tenth anniversary. The latest cover showed a silver android figure in profile with its neck arched back; unlike some of the other designs he revealed on Monday, which included the faces of real women, this image looked to be entirely robotic.
Sorayama used an image of Beyoncé up close from a large video screen at one of her concerts to support his argument.
A sleek helmet with a sloping hairline and bell-shaped cups over her ears encircled her massive face, with metal nails protruding like the characters in Sorayama's artwork.
And hanging from her bottom lip was a beautiful piece of jewelry. For the artwork of her song My House, which plays over the closing credits of her performance DVD, Beyonce seemed to adopt a similar style-minus the lip embellishment.
Many of the people who attended the star-studded concert initially thought that Sorayama had granted Queen B permission to use the design, according to TMZ.
A close-up of a gray T-shirt that was apparently sold at one of Beyoncé's performances was seen in a later picture. The Break My Soul singer's website doesn't seem to be selling that same design right now, but other versions that have the same outfit are available for about $60.
The shirt image was crucial since it suggested that Beyoncé had not only plagiarized Sorayama's artwork, but also that she was allegedly profiting from his creations through her line of clothing.
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