Courtney Love accused Olivia Rodrigo of plagiarism. It backfired, big time
Courtney Love hit out at Olivia Rodrigo for allegedly plagiarising her album artwork. (Michael Loccisano/Getty/JMEnternational/Getty)
Courtney Love has accused Olivia Rodrigo of “stealing” her band Hole’s 1994 album artwork – and it backfired spectacularly.
The singer shared a snap of Rodrigo’s tour artwork on Instagram, which shows her holding a bouquet of flowers and wearing a tiara as mascara trails down her face, suggested she had copied the cover for Hole’s album Live Through This, which also featured a prom queen on its cover.
“Spot the difference!” Courtney Love captioned the image, adding the hashtag “twinning” .
Olicia Rodrigo quickly replied to the post, writing: “Love u and live through this sooooo much” – but that didn’t placate Love.
“Olivia – you’re welcome. My favourite florist is in Notting Hill, London! DM me for deeds! I look forward to reading your note!” she added alongside a winking-face emoji.
Courtney Love said it was ‘rude’ of Olivia Rodrigo to use prom queen imagery
Love doubled down on her criticism in other comments, telling her followers that it was “rude” of Rodrigo not to ask her permission.
“It was rude of her, and Geffen not to ask myself or Ellen Von Enwerth,” Love wrote in one comment, referring to the photographer who created her 1994 album artwork.
“It’s happened my whole career so i.d.c (I don’t care). But manners is manners.”
Love added: “Stealing an original idea and not asking permission is rude. There’s no way to be elegant about it. I’m not angry. it happens all the time to me. And he really [sic] I’m very gracious or say nothing.
“But this was bad form. That’s not bullying or bomb throwing. This persons [sic] music has nothing to do with my life. Possibly never will. It was rude and I gave [sic] every right to stick up for my work…”
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Needless to say, Love’s criticism didn’t exactly fly with fans, with many pointing out that the prom queen image is actually a commonly-used visual trope.
Some fans waded into the comments to tell Love that Rodrigo’s album artwork could also be seen as a reference to the 1976 horror classic Carrie.
“All I see in this comment section is that people don’t know the difference between copying and inspiration and think hating pop artists is cool,” one person commented.
“Carrie did it for the boomers, Courtney did it for Gen X and millennials, and Olivia came through for Gen Z. Issa timeless look,” another Instagram user added.
Countless people also shared their frustration with Love on Twitter.
https://twitter.com/apocalypticlivs/status/1408831551606042629
Someone call Carrie so she can weigh in on this whole Courtney Love vs. Olivia Rodrigo debate pic.twitter.com/rk6TFsSQUE— Aliara | Jenny | Lahabrea Still Fucks (@AmaurotineHeart) June 26, 2021
https://twitter.com/heavenlytension/status/1409317491340464129
https://twitter.com/DK_Hennessy/status/1409304131144126471
The furore erupted shortly after Rodrigo unveiled the artwork for her Sour Prom concert film, telling fans that she settled on the theme because she never got to go to her own prom.
The controversy comes just weeks after the “Drivers Licence” singer released her debut album Sour, which quickly skyrocketed to the top of the charts across the world.
