Olivia Rodrigo Accused of Copying Photographer’s Work for Album Cover

Olivia Rodrigo has been accused of copying a photographer’s work for the cover of her upcoming album you look pretty sad for a girl so in love.

Earlier this month, Rodrigo released the cover art for her latest album, which will be released in June. The cover photo of you look pretty sad for a girl so in love shows the singer upside-down on a swing in a pink dress against a blue sky with her heels in the air.

However, according to a report by Vice, Rodrigo has been accused of plagiarism over the artwork. The news outlet reports that some music fans and observers have pointed to similarities between Rodrigo’s cover and a 2010 image by photographer Ryan McGinley. That image, that was published by The New York Times Magazine, features artist M.I.A. leaning back on a swing above New York City.

According to Vice, McGinley also posted the image of M.I.A. on his Instagram shortly after Rodrigo’s album announcement. The photographer’s Instagram post now appears to have been deleted, although screenshots continued to circulate online. Fans quickly interpreted the timing of McGinley’s post as a possible critique of Rodrigo’s album cover.

However, many online users defended Rodrigo and argued that the similarities that were being highlighted between McGinley’s photograph of M.I.A. and Rodrigo’s album cover were not unusual or evidence of plagiarism. While the framing of Rodrigo’s cover and McGinley’s photograph are visually similar, many fans and online commenters argued that the idea of a subject photographed upside down on a swing is not unique.

Reddit users shared stock images and fashion photographs with similar compositions, including a 2018 Harper’s Bazaar cover featuring Jennifer Lopez. Some users noted that the Lopez image more closely resembled McGinley’s photograph than Rodrigo’s cover, as it also featured a swing above a city landscape, whereas Rodrigo’s image uses a plain blue sky background. The outlet Much Music also pointed to a separate photoshoot featuring actress Michelle Yeoh over the Hollywood Hills as another example of a similar visual concept.

Social media users generally suggested that the idea of a person posing on a swing in an inverted or dynamic pose has appeared repeatedly in fashion and editorial photography, and that any similarities may reflect shared inspiration rather than direct copying. Other Reddit users commented that most people had childhood photos of themselves on a swing that could be considered quite similar.

“I have news for this photographer,” one Reddit user writes. “There’s a pic of me as a child 30 years ago on a swing at the playground doing this so you guys owe my mom $5.”

Rodrigo’s album cover image is widely believed to be influenced by the 18th-century painting The Swing by Jean-Honoré Fragonard. In the famous 1766 Rococo painting, a young woman in a pink ruffled dress is shown on a swing, with one shoe coming off and flying into the air as she lifts her leg.

Image credits: Geffen Records