Charli XCX has responded to claims that she plagiarised Marina & The Diamonds with a recent photoshoot, saying, "Yeah, unfortunately it looks similar, and it's a shame for both myself and Marina that this happened."
The singer recently designed a can of fragranse for Impulse, and the advertising included a tropical-themed photoshoot - something many fans have suggested is uncomfortably similar to the artwork around Marina & The Diamonds' latest album, Froot. In fact, the two shoots were done by the same photographer.
"Imagery is artistic property," wrote Diamandis on Twitter, "Please respect your fellow artists." Many - including Charli xcx herself - took this to be a reference to the perfume campaign photo.
Imagery is artistic property. Please respect your fellow artists.
— Marina Diamandis (@MarinasDiamonds) March 10, 2016
.@MarinasDiamonds i'm guessing this is aimed at me. if so, response posted here. sending positive vibes 💜✌️ https://t.co/2Cq3hmdGWc
— CHARLI XCX (@charli_xcx) March 11, 2016
fyi i'm not shading/dragging/beefing. that's not something I do. I'm just being direct and setting the record straight. 💜
— CHARLI XCX (@charli_xcx) March 11, 2016
In her response, the singer wrote, "You know what, sometimes you do a photoshoot standing infront of a plant, sometimes you do a photoshoot in black and white, sometimes you wear purple eyeshadow. Sometimes you shoot with the same photographer a fellow artist has shot with. That's just how things happen in the industry I work in."
She added, "The image in discussion (not this one), which a lot of fans have been making noise about online, was from a photoshoot for a fragrance brand I have been working with for a while. The point of the shoot is to make the promotional image reflective of the packaging, as I have done on previous collaborations with them. This particular scent is a summer scent, with lemons and hints of burnt orange, the design is tropical, bright yellow with pineapples, palm trees and sunglasses printed on the can. The whole brief for the campaign was based around a tropical theme, which is what the brand aka 'the client', wanted.
"Hence the direction of the photoshoot. I had not seen the artwork for the Marina And The Diamonds (@marinagrams) song 'mmortal' and it was not an inspiration for this photoshoot or the campaign as a whole. I've seen it now, and yeah unfortunately it looks similar. It was shot by the same, incredibly talented photographer, and it's a shame for both myself and Marina that this has happened."
She added, "I'm not here to replicate or 'steal' art or things that have already been done. What's the point in that? I'm here to do my own thing and create my own art. As I've said, the image in question, which I believe Marina had previously commented on on the photographer's Instagram, was for a brand based photoshoot for a tropical, lemon scented fragrance campaign (what was I supposed to do - shoot it in the snow?!). It is not the artwork for my own album or single. That's all I need to say really."
Diamandis is yet to respond to Charli xcx's Instagram post.
