Beyoncé is catching some heat from fans who have accused her of stealing art from a 76-year-old Japanese illustrator to use in her Renaissance Tour costumes. The illustrator, Hajime Sorayama, posted photos on Instagram last week comparing his original artwork to one of the costumes Beyoncé is depicted in on tour. However, other fans are claiming that the artist’s work is heavily inspired by the 1927 film Metropolis, and that what he’s claiming is “stolen” isn’t unique art, rather a style of art that cannot be owned.
Beyoncé’s Renaissance Tour has grossed over $500M, so if she did in fact copy artwork from Sorayama, it doesn’t really make much sense why she wouldn’t pay him for it. Although, the pop star is also refusing to pay a $7M tax bill to the IRS… Keep reading for more information.
On Dec. 11th, Hajime Sorayama posted a series of photos to his Instagram account, @HajimeSorayamaOfficial. The first slide is a picture from the Renaissance Tour featuring Beyoncé in a chrome headpiece with small metal spikes sticking out from the side. The second slide is the same image, but on a t-shirt. The third, fourth, and fifth slides are images of Sorayama’s artwork: a woman wearing a very similar chrome headpiece as well as a chrome suit of armor.
He captioned the photos, “Yo @beyonce You should have asked me ‘officially’ so that I could make much better work for you as like my man @theweeknd.” The post now has over 57,000 likes and over 3,500 comments, making it both his most liked post and his most commented on post. It’s currently unclear if Sorayama is taking any legal action against Beyoncé.
In the comment section of the post, fans have been hotly debating whether or not Beyoncé stole Sorayama’s artwork, or if the similarities are simply just common within the style of art. “Oh damn,” one fan wrote. “I thought she’d asked you. That’s so lame from Beyoncé to come up with such a lousy copy cat artwork.”
“This is robbery and disrespectful towards your original design and idea,” another fan commented. “You deserve better than this considering how influential you are and the work you’ve done throughout the years.”
“Imagine being able to afford Sorayama and not commissioning him,” said another fan.
“She doesn’t like paying artists, so ripping off the greats is always on the table for her,” added another user. “You deserve better.”
But other fans of Beyoncé came to her defense, drawing on similarities to the 1927 film Metropolis as well as the designer Thierry Mugler. “She’s wearing Thierry Mugler based off an archive Mugler look that referenced Metropolis,” one user wrote. “Were you this incensed when she wore a similar headpiece in 2007 at the BET awards?”
“Metropolis, Mugler, Gaultier, and more have all done this,” pointed out another user. “You don’t own the Android aesthetic.”
“Quick unfollow,” added another. “He stole the idea and then tried to drag mother? The NERVE!”
“Metropolis Film was Public Domain in 2023!” said another user. “Everyone can use the female robot as inspiration. Full stop!”
“Love your work but you should have kept this one in the drafts,” a final fan wrote. “This is embarrassing…”
