SHOCKER! Beyonce Accused Of Creative Thievery!
In news that will surely come as a complete shock to the estate of Bob Fosse, Beyonce has been accused of stealing another person's creative ideas. I know, I know, take a seat, 'cause this one's coming out of nowhere. But behold, in the picture above on the left, we have Erykah Badu, legendary singer, songwriter and everyone's favorite wacky auntie, in one of her more subdued tour outfits. To the right, we have Beyonce, mother of legendary, Grammy award-winning Blue Ivy, in a similar-ish outfit on her current tour, with at least the hat being a nod to Eryka's lewk.
Which is enough to make Erykah scream, "Thief!" Though really, her reaction on Instagram was far more subdued: "Hmm. I guess I'm everybody's stylist now," she wrote. In other words, she poured the gas, tossed the lit match, then tiptoed away. Ka-boom! Oh, and on a semi-related note, Erykah was performing recently in Atlanta and noticed that John Boyega was in the audience and cooed, "Mmm. Fine." Yes, Erykah, agreed.
Then she called out to the audience. "He under 30? Hell, yeah, that's what I'm talking about. Nuts still tough, you know what I'm saying? That's what I be looking for" (same, Erykah, same). But back to Beyonce stealing things. In yet another shocker to this story, her camp has yet to say anything.
But then she didn't say anything when she (allegedly!) (wink-wink) stole the entire look, costumes and dance moves for her video, "Countdown," from Belgium dancer/choreographer Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker (pictured above). At first. Once fans put up a side-by-side comparison, Team Beyonce said that Beyonce was merely "paying homage" to De Keersmaeker. So we good, right?
Maybe not, because it's uncertain if it was "homage" when Beyonce stole an entire routine, including all the choreography, for a "Formation" tour number from dancer and choreographer Marilyn Oritz.
Or when she copied her entire 2011 Billboard Music awards show routine, including all the choreography, from Italian performer Lorella Cuccarini (pictured above), or when she lied when she claimed to have written "Crazy in Love" and "Irreplaceable;" or when settled out of court for stealing the song, "Survivor," from Terrence "T Rob" Robinson, who sued her for $200 million.
But, really, Eryka should calm the fuque down. It's just "homage," just as it was when Beyonce copied the look and costuming from Estonian singer Kerli (pictured above).
And Fosse? Beyonce eventually gave him credit for stealing paying homage using his choreography for her "Single Ladies" video. "I saw it on YouTube!" she eventually said about Fosse's original routine for "The Ed Sullivan Show" (oh, and this wasn't the first time she used Fosse's choreography; she lifted directly from his "Frug" routine from "Sweet Charity" for her "Get Me Bodied" video).
Look, artists are inspired by other artists all the time. Who's to say when homage crosses the line into outright copying? Eykah? A few nobodies from Italy, Estonia and Belgium? Dead Bob Fosse? Is this fair to Beyonce? Everyone, really, give it a rest, because once Grammy award-winning Blue Ivy cuts her first album, I have a feeling we'll be discussing this again.
Photo Credits: Getty Images, Erya Badu/Instagram, StrongBlacKLead/Instagram, VIBE
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