The blogosphere is lit up with reports that famous photographer and music-video director David LaChappelle is suing pop star Rihanna, claiming that her music video for "S&M" is based on eight of his photos. Billy Johnson Jr. of Hip Hop Media Training reports that in the lawsuit made public Monday, LaChapelle says, "The music video is directly derived from and substantially similar to the LaChapelle works."
Apparently, days after the video was released, LaChapelle accused Rihanna via Twitter of using his ideas without his consent. "The next time you make a David LaChapelle music video you should probably hire David LaChapelle," the photographer wrote. The post has since been disabled.
LaChapelle has directed dozens of music videos, including Britney Spears' "Everytime," Christina Aguilera's "Dirrty" and Gwen Stefani's "Rich Girl."
If controversy over the content of the video wasn't enough drama, then this brewing beef between two of pop culture's most "creative" and iconic members should be interesting to watch.
Read more at Yahoo News.
Watch the video at the center of the lawsuit and Gwen Stefani featuring Eve's "Rich Girl," which LaChappelle directed, below (NSFW):
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