It’s the storm in a teacup that has turned into a full blown hurricane. As Tone Deaf reported yesterday, Aussie trio SAFIA have launched a thousand opinions after they accused pint-sized pop princess Ariana Grande of cribbing the concept for her latest video from one of their 2014 clips.
In a statement issued via their Facebook page, the group claimed that Grande’s video for ‘One Last Time’ was in fact a rip off of their video for ‘You Are The One’. Both videos featured one-take shots of a protagonist running through an apocalyptic scene, ending with an embrace between two characters.
The controversy became even more heated after another Aussie band, Perth’s Injured Ninja, insisted that SAFIA could have just as easily taken their concept from their 2011 ‘Fallopian Tube Screamer’ video, which featured many of the tropes found in both Grande and SAFIA’s videos.
Even Max Landis, the director of Grande’s clip and best known for his work on the 2012 film Chronicle, which was shot in a similar style to Grande’s video, felt compelled to weigh in. Tweeting at Jimmy Ennett, the director of SAFIA’s video, Landis wrote, “Your video KICKS ASS. It sucks that the last shot is so similar.”
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“But it’s also similar to a MILLION OTHER SHOTS framed exactly the same way from a million other things.” He also gave Ennett and the band a “pro tip”, sharing Injured Ninja’s clip and writing, “Don’t accuse someone of stealing for having similar tropes if you REALLY ACTUALLY STOLE YOUR VIDEO YOU’RE ACCUSING THEM OF STEALING.”
Now Brisbane outfit Aerials have added their two cents and their recently issued Facebook statement could put SAFIA in a very awkward position. According to the band, they recently became aware that SAFIA’s 2013 video for ‘Listen to Soul, Listen to Blues’ bares a striking similarity to one of their clips.
“So after all that Ariana Grande vs Safia gossip yesterday, it was brought to our attention that our music video for ‘Patient Parades’ back in 2012 was also thoroughly enjoyed by SAFIA,” they write, “but maybe a little too much!! What do you think? Don’t worry boys, we still love you!”
Indeed, the two clips essentially share the same concept – projecting video of the band members onto city streets, interjected with images of lit-up cityscapes. While obviously we have no way of knowing if SAFIA have ever seen Aerials’ video, we’ll let readers make up their own minds below.
