Taylor Swift Delicate Copies Kenzo Ad Britney Spears

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Taylor Swift dropped a new video on Sunday night after winning female artist of the year at the 2018 iHeartRadio Music Awards, but in typical Taylor Swift fashion, the release has already sparked controversy.

The video for "Delicate", the fourth release from her album Reputation, sees Swift giving interviews on a red carpet and dancing around a fancy hotel lobby in a blue gown while making "dorky" faces. Instead of her usual #squad, though, Swift is alone. For most of the video, she's either being flanked by bodyguards, alone or being ignored.

While the video has been warmly received by fans, with many dubbing her expressions and uninhibited dancing "relatable", the rest of the discussion around it has been far less complimentary, with many accusing Swift of "ripping off" others' work and channelling dance prodigy Maddie Ziegler.

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The most common comparison so far has been between the video and a Kenzo fragrance advert directed by Spike Jonze back in 2016. In the ad, actor Margaret Qualley (The Leftovers) dancing energetically around a fancy building in a gown while pulling strange faces.

Watch the ad above and you'll struggle to deny the similarities, both in terms of their content and aesthetics.

taylor swift's "delicate" video is a poor man's version of spike jonze's ad for Kenzo, this bop deserved more pic.twitter.com/39Ub99bKqc
— christina.jpg (@wtfcylon) March 12, 2018

Taylor Swift's "Delicate" video is weirdly similar to the Spike Jonze KENZO World commercial ?
— Candace Lowry (@TheCandaceLowry) March 12, 2018

✔ lonely/contemplative look off-cam
✔ silly wink faces pic.twitter.com/dS2rR3qGop
— kenny wassus (@kgw) March 12, 2018

✔ profile tracking shot of militant walk
✔ ballet leap (one v good, the other ... not as good — granted margaret qualley is a mutant dance goddess, so taylor was doomed there) pic.twitter.com/fLm2BM1M9b
— kenny wassus (@kgw) March 12, 2018

✔ dolly shot in ending w lukewarm smile pic.twitter.com/3sT9rpUPL6
— kenny wassus (@kgw) March 12, 2018

Kenzo ad by Spike Jonze + Maddie Ziegler in every Sia music video = Taylor Swift's Delicate music video
— Alice ? (@_quasialice) March 12, 2018

that swift girl obviously watched some spike jonze #delicate
— jakobesen (@jakobesen) March 12, 2018

The new @taylorswift13 Delicate music video is such an insanely blatant copy/rip-off of the Spike Jonze Kenzo World commercial. The setting, colour palette, choreography, everything.
— Gina Schreuder (@Gina_and_tonic) March 12, 2018

Others have made links between "Delicate" and Britney Spears' 2000 Hit "Lucky", which sees the pop icon struggling under the pressures of fame and surrounded by fans on a red carpet.

Again, the similarities are pretty striking.

Taylor Swift’s #Delicate is the reboot of Britney’s #Lucky pic.twitter.com/fqyV13wxSk
— Keely MacDonald (@KeelyMacDragon) March 12, 2018

The Delicate music video reminds me of the Lucky music video by Britney Spears.
— 11th Street Kid ? (@BlondiePoodle13) March 12, 2018

#Delicate was hella cute but britney bitch did it better #lucky
— Cassandra MacLennan (@cassmaclennan) March 12, 2018

Everyone thinks Taylor's 'Delicate' video is this original masterpiece.. It's not... Parts of it have a very similar concept to Britney's 'Lucky' and most of it has Maddie Ziegler written all over it (umm the dancing)...
— Zoe Elder (@Zoe_Elder101) March 12, 2018

Other eagle-eyed Britney fans have compared later scenes in "Delicate", in which Swift dances in an abandoned rainy street, to the video for Spears’ “Overprotected (Darkchild Remix)".

The video for the 2002 hit features a similar scene in which Spears (from 2:50 above).

This is real #Delicate #Overprotected i see the same thing pic.twitter.com/5NjtFUjjLO
— Enda Dollar ℹ️ (@endadollar) March 12, 2018

Just noticed something Taylor Swift Delicate VS Britney Spears Overprotected pic.twitter.com/abZuMjrBip
— Enda Dollar ℹ️ (@endadollar) March 12, 2018

Delicate is the unsexy version of Overprotected sue her @britneyspears pic.twitter.com/HnWOE5C1Pg
— ?? (@capitalized) March 12, 2018

These similarities will no doubt be a Delicate issue for Swift, who has faced plagiarism accusations in the past, including over the lyrics to her worldwide smash hit "Shake It Off" last year.

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