Welcome to Outrage Watch, HitFix's semi-regular rundown of entertainment-related kerfuffles. Not anxious enough already? Get your fix of righteous indignation below, and stay posted for outrage updates throughout the week.
Is Taylor Swift a copycat?
That's the charge being lobbed today (and, as pointed out by Jezebel's The Muse, for awhile now) by fans of top-selling K-Pop group 2NE1, whose music video for “Come Back Home” (released in March of last year) bears some admittedly striking similarities to T-Swift's “Bad Blood” clip (released this past May). The story was first reported by Kpopstarz back in May but seems to be bubbling up again in part thanks to yesterday's heavily-publicized T-Swift/Nicki Minaj debacle. Here's a side-by-side screenshot comparison of both videos:
Photo Credit: YouTube/Kpopstarz
So do the visual parallels constitute plagiarism on Swift's part? Homage? Or simply an accidental convergence of influences? Many 2NE1 fans seem convinced of the first possibility:
@taylorswift13 @kendricklamar how I feel when you STOLE your video idea from 2ne1???????? pic.twitter.com/Q2L0ddkWa8
– goddess summer (@fkapetals) July 22, 2015
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gotta support da kpop aka 2ne1 f u taylor swift!!! pic.twitter.com/SuthkI90QB
– Marvin Felicitas (@marbeen0) July 22, 2015
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@taylorswift13 why is your bad blood video a remake of 2NE1?didnt think anyone would notice did ya?KPOP is global We're just a secret world
– Blue bird (@Blxck_Pxnther) July 22, 2015
THAT MOMENT WHEN YOU REALIZE TAYLOR SWIFT COPIES HER MUSIC VIDEO FROM KPOP GIRL BAND 2NE1 SMH I KNEW THIS WHITE GIRL COULDN'T BE PERFECT
– Amber (@amburpp) July 22, 2015
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Literally watch 2ne1's Come Back Home music video and then watch Taylor Swift's Bad Blood she stole everything it's so wild I gasped
– (deja) (@groovyteen96) July 22, 2015
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@taylorswift13 so you thought you were slick by stealing a mv concept from a kpop girl group called 2ne1, right? pic.twitter.com/UnIiApZOBJ
– father ameera (@juniorandljoe) July 22, 2015
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AND IT'S CLEAR IT'S A FUCKING RIPOFF TOO EXCEPT 2NE1 > TAYLOR SWIFT ANY FUCKING DAY
– show me@OTAKON (@eposettes) July 21, 2015
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@taylorswift13 YOU SHOULD INVITE 2NE1 ON STAGE WITH YOU TOO SINCE YOU RIPPED THEIR VIDEO OFF
– jem finch. (@kimhanbinVEVO) July 21, 2015
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Taylor Swift copied 2NE1
– kimberly ? (@bestiexid) July 21, 2015
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How is Taylor swift nominated for video of the year when she plagiarized 2NE1'S – come back home video?? pic.twitter.com/1TWwd5pVVz
– GIRL ALMIGHTY?? (@cheshire_CATH) July 21, 2015
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I JUST NOTICED THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN BAD BLOOD AND COME BACK HOME now im mad as fuck 2NE1 was badass before taylor swift was LOL
– #WeAreSorryBTS (@radiantqueue) July 21, 2015
Taylor Swift make sure you give a shout out to 2ne1 for your music video concept if you win.
– E'Marie + (@EynishaMariex3) July 21, 2015
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taylor swift had the nerve to copy 2ne1? she probably thought no one even knew about them but guess what? YOURE CAUGHT
– father ameera (@juniorandljoe) July 21, 2015
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oh so taylor had the nerve to rip off 2ne1? idts Taylor swift cancelled
– father ameera (@juniorandljoe) July 21, 2015
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I can't believe Taylor Swift copied 2NE1!!!! ????????????????????
– kimberly ? (@bestiexid) July 21, 2015
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Jezebel writer Julianne Escobedo Shepherd is also suspicious of the similarities. As she wrote in her piece this morning:
“While the overall plot is very clearly different- 'Bad Blood' has more of a Bond-style action theme, where 'Come Back Home' focuses on more clearly sci-fi elements of revolution and virtual reality-it”s well known that music videos are storyboarded as meticulously as any movie, and where the specific video shots do cross over, they are nigh identical.”
Escobedo Shepherd also suggests that South Korean-born “Bad Blood” director Joseph Kahn should have known better, pointing to an interview he gave with the Korea Times last November:
“Alternately, in November, he spoke with the Korea Times about getting back to his 'Korean roots,' and that he 'pay[s] full attention to what”s going on in my field, it”s my job.' It seems highly unlikely that any storied, thorough music video director would have missed a high-profile video from arguably K-pop”s most celebrated girl groups.”
So what do we do with all of this? The way I see it, there are four options: 1) accept the claims of all the T-Swift haters/doubters wholeheartedly, 2) tell the 2NE1 fans to step off, 3) go on with your life or — more radically — 4) decide for yourself how you feel about it.
Both videos embedded below.
“Bad Blood”:
“Come Back Home”: