Why Ariana Grande Is Suing Forever 21 For $10M

Ariana Grande's team has filed a lawsuit against apparel brand Forever 21 for using a look-alike model and posting unauthorized photos of the "7 Rings" singer on social media.

Grande's side is suing the clothing company for $10M for making it look through their social media posts as if they are in an endorsement partnership with Grande.

According to the lawsuit, Forever 21 has previously tried to clinch an endorsement deal with Grande but the singer declined because of the company's "unwillingness to pay the fair market value" for her brand. The attempt for negotiation took place sometime around December 2018 and January 2019.

The lawsuit described the fair market value of Grande's personal brand and following: "Even a single social media post by Ms. Grande can garner fees of several hundred thousand dollars, and her longer-term endorsement arrangements command fees in the millions of dollars."

Beyond just establishing a personal brand as an actress and singer, Grande has recently made history as the first female artist to dethrone herself at No. 1 at the US Billboard Hot 100.

"Thank U, Next" debuted at No. 1 on the charts before being replaced by "7 Rings" and "Break Up with Your Girlfriend, I’m Bored".

Grande's side described the "financial downturn" situation of Forever 21 due to online competitions that serves as motivation behind the desperate attempt for social media publicity.

The lawsuit detailed how Forever 21 intended to copy Grande's brand through the following ways: (1) hiring "a model who looks strikingly similar" to her, (2) featuring a similar hairstyle worn by grande in the "7 Rings" music video, (3) posting a photo of Grande in the Forever 21 Intagram account, (4) dressing the look-alike model in the same clothing top worn by Grande in the ill-gotten photo, (5) dressing the model with hair accessory used in the "7 Rings" video and (6) using lines from the "7 Rings" song as social media post captions.

"Forever 21" has been previously reported to be considering filing for bankruptcy. Meanwhile, the clothing company is still hoping to resolve the case with Grande.

“Forever 21 does not comment on pending litigation as per company policy,” a company spokesperson told CNBC.

“That said, while we dispute the allegations, we are huge supporters of Ariana Grande and have worked with her licensing company over the past two years. We are hopeful that we will find a mutually agreeable resolution and can continue to work together in the future.”