Rihanna Sued By David LaChapelle Over S&M Video

After the highly-anticipated release of her latest music video “S&M”, it looks like singer Rihanna is now being sued by fashion photographer David LaChapelle, who is claiming that the artist stole and copied numerous ideas that he had already photographed.

The single has been the victim of plenty of controversy due to it’s extremely provocative lyrics about sex, as well as whips and chains. Not only that, but the video has been banned in 11 countries because of the sexually charged material featured.

According to the lawsuit that LaChapelle filed this week, “The music video is directly derived from and substantially similar to the LaChapelle works.”

So far there has been no response from the singer about the allegations, which say that she copied the “composition, total concept, feel, tone, mood, theme, colors, props, settings, decors, wardrobe and lighting” of his previously published photos.

The video was directed by Melina Matsoukas, and she has not said anything about the lawsuit yet.


LaChapelle is seeking an unspecified amount of damages. He has previously worked for top magazines like Rolling Stone, Vanity Fair and GQ. So far he has not issued a direct statement.

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