19 Celebs Accused Of Ripping Off Smaller Businesses
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Celebrities stealing from smaller/indie brands happens too often these days.
Here are a couple cases for those who don't have an eye on what's happening.
1.Khloé Kardashian
Who she ripped off: Destiney Bleu
The youngest Kardashian sister's Good American brand was hit with a lawsuit by Los Angeles-based indie clothing brand d.bleu.dazzled and owner Destiney Blue for ripping off the designs from their collection in 2020.
Despite Khloé saying the claim was "flagrantly false," Kardashian settled on a private agreement with the brand.
2.Kylie Jenner
Who she ripped off: Plugged NYC
Black-owned brand Plugged NYC and owner Tizita Balemlay claimed Jenner’s team requested custom camouflage knit tops from the brand, and a month later, Jenner put out her version of camouflage two-pieces on her line. These Kardashian/Jenner sisters are known for their plagiarizing.
3.La La Anthony
Who she ripped off: Maison Ashforde
In the launching of La La's Pretty Little Thing, designer Ash Forde accused La La Anthony of copying one of her dresses from her first collection. Before Ash Forde launched her company, she was in contact with La La and gifted her a dress. The dress is what La La copied for PLT.
In the show Grown-ish, Anthony played a fashion designer who stole a design from Zoey Johnson, played by Yara Shahidi. How ironic is that?
4.Bella Thorne
Who she ripped off: Juvia's Place
Bella Thorne's Filthy Fangs allegedly plagiarized the Black-owned cosmetics company Juvia's Place in 2018.
Fans recognized packaging and shade similarities and called Bella out on social media. Thorne alleged that both companies have the same manufacturer.
5.Hailey Bieber
Who she ripped off: RHODE by Purna Khatau and Phoebe Vickers
Currently, Hailey Bieber is being sued for trademark infringement by Purna Khatau's RHODE after launching her skincare line of the same name. Bieber got her Rhode name because it's her middle name. Wonder where this case goes.
6.Taylor Swift
Who she ripped off: The Folklore
When Taylor Swift announced her album Folklore in 2020, Amira Rasool, owner of The Folklore, said the logo originated from her store, which is "an online concept store delivering Africa & the diaspora’s top contemporary designer brands."
Since the accusations, Taylor Swift has pledged her support to The Folklore and eventually did switch her Folklore logo.
7.Kylie Jenner (Again)
Who she ripped off: Cake Asia’s Black Flames
The Jenners can have their own list of ripping people off.
In 2017, when Kylie released some sweats that resembled Cake Asia, Instagram was on fire. The styles were so similar Kylie couldn't find a way to escape.
8.Megan Thee Stallion
Who she ripped off: The Xposed
This is not necessarily Meg's fault, but during her and Cardi B's rollout of the hit single "WAP," both posted pictures on Instagram with the same top, and the owner of The Xposed was upset.The Xposed owner said those shirts are ripoffs of her brand, and Megan Thee Stallion had worn the original top from The Xposed before, and her stylist follows the brand's page. The Xposed are still big fans of both artists.
9.Danielle Bernstein
Who she ripped off: We Are Kin
Danielle Bernstein has been accused by small designers way more than once. We Are Kin's Ngoni Chikwenengere said Bernstein DM'd her about a dress that she would shortly wear that's identical to hers.
Bernstein denied the claims.
10.Danielle Bernstein (again)
Who she ripped off: Grayscale
Designer Khala Whitney and Grayscale, a Black-owned fashion line, said Bernstein copied a skirt of theirs that she had purchased and reviewed in the past for her upcoming holiday line at Macy’s.
Whitney said Bernstein bought one of her skirts before for Paris Fashion Week and was in communication before this happened.
11.Jeremy Scott
Who he ripped off: Joseph "Rime" Tierney
Jeremy Scott was the creative director of Moschino in 2013 when two years later, he got sued by the graphic designer Rime.
Gigi Hadid modeled the dress that Rime said featured his designs in Milan.
12.Versace (brand)
Who they ripped off: Kesh
In 2013, Versace went viral for having a similar shirt design to designer Kesh. Kesh, born in LA, is very popular in the city, and when people saw the Versace shirt, they instantly compared it to hers.
13.Emily Ratajkowski
Who she ripped off: Lisa Marie Fernandez
A week after model-turned-actress, Emily Ratajkowski dropped her swim-line Inamorata, Lisa Marie Fernandez claimed Emily Ratajkowski copied two of her swimsuit designs. Fernandez sent a cease and desist letter to the actress.
14.Alan from The Hangover (Zach Galifianakis)
Who he ripped off: Louis Vuitton/Diophy
This is a very interesting case on how something that happened in a movie trickled into real-life consequences. There's a scene in which Alan (Zach Galifianakis' character) for a quick second made a line in reference to his LV bag when the bag in question was actually made by Diophy. LV took the creators of The Hangover to court, but eventually the case got threw away.
15.Olaf from Frozen
Who they ripped off: Kelly Wilson and Neil Wrischnik
We've been mainly dealing with fashion, but other powerhouses rip off indie companies in every industry.
Disney supposedly ripped off the Olaf character from Frozen from the indie movie The Snowman. The snowman character in The Snowman has an orange carrot for a nose like Olaf, and both characters lose that nose in a middle of the lake. People from Pixar were at the festival The Snowman premiered at 4 years before Frozen was debuted.
16.Carlos Mencia
Who he ripped off: Smaller comedians
Mencia at one point in time looked like one of the best up and coming comedians in the world. While he was on top, many comedians came out and said he was taking their material. Even those on the stature of George Lopez.
Mencia doubled down that he not only stole jokes but will keep stealing funny ones. His sudden fall was bound to come, and one day, Joe Rogan called him out at a show, and that was the end.
17.James Cameron
Who he ripped off: Kevin Costner
The movie Avatar was a smash box office hit. Now, Avatar is just as known for its copying of the 1990 movie Dances with Wolves as it is for its commercial success. Kevin Costner is not a "small" brand, but compared to the massive success Avatar received, it had to be added on the list.
18.Kim Kardashian
Who she ripped off: Diet Prada
Kim K in 2018/19 collaborated with designer Carolina Lemke for an exclusive sunglass collection. Emilio Pucci's Diet Prada called out Kardashian's sunglasses collection and even went as far as posting a picture of Kim wearing a pair of shield sunglasses of Pucci's that are the blueprints of Kim's.
19.The Fast and the Furious
Who they ripped off: Point Break
Simply put, The Fast and the Furious and Point Break are the same movie, but Point Break was made 10 years before the first Fast and Furious movie. Point Break never took legal action despite the apparent copying.
How can we help smaller brands not get ripped off?
Give tips in the comments.
