Beyoncé Faces Allegations of Art Appropriation: Japanese Artist Hajime Sorayama Accuses Queen Bey of Unauthorized Use
4 min read
Kevin Mazur/WireImage for Parkwood
Hajime Sorayama, a Japanese artist famed for his sexy feminine robots, has chastised Beyoncé for allegedly appropriating his work in one of her Renaissance tour outfits. With his tweet, the artist provided five photographs, including one of Beyoncé on screen at one of her 2023 tour gigs and another of what appears to be tour merchandise. Another three remaining photographs appear to be his artworks that inspired the appearance. Within three hours, the photo had received over 30,000 likes on Instagram, while comments were divided between fans of the artist and fans of the singer. The bulk of responses in support of Beyoncé stated that both Sorayama and Beyoncé were inspired by Fritz Lang’s 1927 picture Metropolis. “It’s obvious that you and whoever created her headpiece were inspired by the same Metropolis.”
“It doesn’t make anyone a thief, especially Beyoncé,” wrote The Vixen, a former RuPaul’s Drag Race contestant. Another Instagram user, Jared Keith Lee, stated he liked Sorayama but that graphics from Beyoncé’s tour had been available since May. Sorayama mentioned previous collaborations with Canadian musician The Weeknd in his article, dating back to 2011 when the artist collaborated with the musician on a music video and developed a line of goods for him. Sorayama and The Weeknd cooperated earlier this year on the centrepiece of the singer’s stage design for his After Hours Til Dawn tour in Europe. The centrepiece is a massive-scale replica of one of his robots.
An Acclaimed Artist Hajime Sorayama Accuses Beyonce Of Stealing His Renaissance Tour Artwork
Beyonce was recently chastised by Japanese artist Hajime Sorayama for allegedly taking his work without permission during her Renaissance tour. Sorayama worked in Hollywood as a visual effects artist for sci-fi films before being known as a creator of feminine robots. The Japanese artist, known for collaborations with musicians, raised concerns about Beyonce’s participation in a Renaissance tour featuring a futuristic robot. On December 11, Hajime Sorayama shared five photos on Instagram, one of which depicted Beyonce in futuristic attire during her Renaissance tour. Sorayama accused the Formation singer of appropriating his work without obtaining permission. He hinted at the possibility of a formal request, expressing the potential for more substantial collaboration compared to his previous work with @theweeknd. This reference to The Weeknd alluded to their recent collaboration on the robotic centerpiece for The Weeknd’s European After Hours Til Dawn tour. Providing background information, Sorayama, a graduate of Tokyo’s Chubi Central Art School in 1969, initially worked in advertising before relocating to Hollywood. There, he contributed to designing visuals for science fiction films.
Seeing Hajime Sorayama call out Beyoncé saying she did a shit job stealing his designs makes me happy pic.twitter.com/n7pSIOs1dM
— Koesters, the man, the myth, the legend (@KoestersYaBoi) December 11, 2023
Soroyama, a world-renowned modern artist, is known for creating work that perfectly merges futuristic mechanical constructions with female sensuality. The post has received several likes in a matter of hours. Nevertheless, social media users had different opinions on how they felt about the message. While some felt that credit was owed, others claimed that Sorayama and Beyonce were inspired by Fritz Lang’s 1927 film Metropolis. “You and whoever designed her headpiece drew from the same Metropolis inspo,” The Vixen, a former RuPaul’s Drag Race contestant, commented. It doesn’t make anyone a thief, least of all Beyoncé.” Another supporter, @Jtl19, stated that Beyonce’s look was an archival Mugler piece inspired by the film Metropolis and that the diva wore the same headwear at the 2007 Bet Awards. Meanwhile, some chastised Sorayama for publicly exposing his issues six months after Beyonce debuted the look during her Renaissance tour.
Bruh all this time I thought Beyonce asked for permission from Hajime Sorayama to use his art… he posted this today. Please look at the caption. pic.twitter.com/EdKrMg9XUm
— Kür (@kuragora) December 11, 2023
Beyonce has super power. She looked into the future to steal from #HajimeSorayama Yes you are right. Justice! pic.twitter.com/yilYQ1k3A4
— Carmii! (@CraziiChoc) December 12, 2023
Why would she ask Hajime Sorayama when she has worked with Mugler on several iterations of this over the years?
— Dashing “DÄ$H” Ali 🌹 (@_CallMe_Dash) December 12, 2023
Quickly. https://t.co/Ppz1JPcZ3B
No one stole this design buddy! You’re over 10 years late! Beyoncé had this look back in the mid 2000s. Why is everyone getting so comfortable disrespecting black women..??!!!
— Kye (@gamerblogger93) December 11, 2023
When you find out Hajime Sorayama is not even the original designer 🤣
— BEYONCÉ SAID MY NAME | KING 〽️👷🏽♂️ 🅴 (@Mood4Eva98) December 11, 2023
Beyoncé in 2007 , she clearly got the idea from some where too. pic.twitter.com/2hgknzZpRJ
— kalij_beyhive🐝👑🌟 (@babykalij) December 11, 2023
