In June, Courtney Love accused Olivia Rodrigo of plagiarism, calling out the similarities between Hole’s 1994 album Live Through This and the teaser for Rodrigo’s film, Sour Prom, which was released as an accompaniment to her debut album, SOUR.
Both images depict a woman – Rodrigo and the model Leilani Bishop, respectively – wearing a tiara and smudged eye make-up, and clutching a bouquet of flowers. Reposting Rodrigo’s image on her own Instagram, Love wrote: “Spot the difference! #twinning!” She later said on Facebook: “My cover was my original idea. A thing you maybe have to actually live life to acquire? I don’t know.”
Now, in a new interview with GQ, Rodrigo has coolly deflected questioning about the drama. “To be honest, I’m just flattered that Courtney Love knows that I exist,” she told interviewer Gabriella Paiella, who says she did so “with a smile”.
Rodrigo initially responded to Love’s now-deleted Instagram post by commenting: “Love u and live through this sooooo much.” To which Love replied: “Olivia – you’re welcome. My favourite florist is in Notting Hill, London! DM me for deets! I look forward to reading your note!”
She added on Facebook “I’ve informed her I await her flowers and note. I sure hope it’s long. Does Disney teach kids reading and writing? God knows. Let’s see.”
Rodrigo was also previously accused of lifting a guitar riff from Elvis Costello’s 1978 track “Pump It Up” for her song “Brutal”. Responding to a fan on Twitter who described it as “a direct lift”, Costello said: “This is fine by me. It’s how rock and roll works. You take the broken pieces of another thrill and make a brand new toy. That’s what I did.” The riff was also sampled in Rogue Trader’s 2005 hit “Voodoo Child”, though Costello gave advanced permission for that one.
Last month, Rodrigo headed to the White House in an archival Chanel suit to meet with Joe Biden and star in a string of PSA videos, encouraging young people to get the COVID-19 vaccine. “I am beyond honoured and humbled to be here today to help spread the message about the importance of new vaccination,” she said at the time. “It’s important to have conversations with friends and family members, encouraging all communities to get vaccinated.”
Read Rodrigo’s full GQ profile here, and look back at Dazed’s investigation into how the “good 4 u” singer became Disney’s first Gen Z music superstar here.