Taylor Swift’s just-released music video for Reputation cut Delicate has been accused of plagiarising a perfume ad, with fans and critics alike pointing out the similarities in tone and substance between the clips.
Swift’s vid showcases the singer traipsing through a world where she’s effectively invisible, enabling her to dance like a goon without the pressures of conforming to her A-list celebrity image. The Joseph Kahn-directed clip, which debuted yesterday, is in keeping with the album’s rumination on fame, and closes with Swift returning from her brief vacation in anonymity.
But the Delicate video has been singled out for its likeness to a 2016 ad for Kenzo World. The ad, directed by Spike Jonze and choreographed by Ryan Heffington, sees dancer Margaret Qualley in similar circumstances: dressed up, bored, seemingly constrained by her high-class surroundings.
Then she cuts sick.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABz2m0olmPg&t=128s
While the broad themes have drawn comparisons, some folks have pointed out specific moves and scenes of particular interest.
✔ lonely/contemplative look off-cam
✔ silly wink faces pic.twitter.com/dS2rR3qGop— kenny wassus (@kgw) March 12, 2018
✔ profile tracking shot of militant walk
✔ ballet leap (one v good, the other … not as good — granted margaret qualley is a mutant dance goddess, so taylor was doomed there) pic.twitter.com/fLm2BM1M9b— kenny wassus (@kgw) March 12, 2018
taylor swift’s “delicate” video is a poor man’s version of spike jonze’s ad for Kenzo, this bop deserved more pic.twitter.com/39Ub99bKqc
— xtina.jpg (@wtfcylon) March 12, 2018
Khan has not yet responded to questions from The Hollywood Reporter about the similarities between the clips.
Notably, this isn’t the first time Kahn has been embroiled in suggestions of plagiarism. Last year, he deflected accusations that his Look What You Made Me Do clip copied Beyoncé’s Formation look.
Of course, there is one other possibility: maybe all parties involved were just echoing the brilliance of Christopher Walken in his iconic Fatboy Slim video.
