- Vogue sues Drake & 21 Savage for $4 million over a fake fashion magazine ad.
- Vogue is serious about fashion.
- Anna Wintour did not consent to the use of her image to promote the Defendants’ Album.
Condé Nast, the publisher of the venerable fashion magazine, has sued rapper 21 Savage and actor Drake for $4 million after the pair made fake versions of Vogue with themselves on the cover to promote their new album “Her Loss.”
The phoney posters were set up in New York and the issues were distributed on the streets of cities including Miami, Atlanta, and Los Angeles. The false copies of the magazine quickly went viral on social media. Vogue is serious about fashion.
Drake tweeted, “Me and my brother on newsstands tomorrow!! “, accompanied by the cover image. Thank you to Anna Wintour and @voguemagazine for their love and support throughout this momentous occasion.
Condé Nast allegedly sent Drake and his team a cease and desist letter on October 31 demanding they stop using the Vogue trademark “unauthorizedly by removing the Instagram post, ceasing any distribution of this magazine,’ and issuing a public statement clarifying that this was not an actual cover of Vogue,” according to the lawsuit, which was filed this week in the Southern District of New York.
The imitation magazines were a “complete, professionally published facsimile of the October issue of Vogue,” with some pages “changed to superimpose advertising branding for Defendants’ Album,” according to the lawsuit. Others include photos of [longtime Vogue editor] Anna Wintour that weren’t in the actual issue, one of which was altered to substitute a Drake photo.
Anna Wintour did not consent to the use of her image to promote the Defendants’ Album, the court documents further say. Additionally, it claims that the knockoff Vogues “exploit” the magazine’s brand and have “created considerable public confusion.”
In the lawsuit, Condé Nast is requesting $4 million in damages. Drake and 21 Savage’s “Her Loss” album advertisements also featured phony media appearances, such as a Howard Stern interview, a “SNL” performance, and an NPR “Tiny Desk” event.
Vogue wasn’t pleased, according to a source, whereas the other media outlets handled it amicably. Every other source was content and accepted it with a smile. It wasn’t done maliciously.
Even Stern discussed the phony interview on television, saying, “He edited himself in to appear like he’s in our studio… The news outlets are portraying Drake’s performance as authentic since he performed it so well.
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