Grammy-winning rapper Cardi B faces potential legal action from a fan over her Halloween cosplay of Marge Simpson from The Simpsons, with the creator insisting she used his fan art without permission.
Posting a lengthy statement on his Instagram page, Italian artist Alexandro Palombo provided a screenshot of Cardi B's Marge Simpson getup posted on Oct. 31, sporting Marge's tall blue hair while wearing a 1995 Thierry Mugler dress, which partially revealed her buttocks. According to Palombo, the rap star appropriated his original artwork from 2013 dubbed "Marge Simpson Style Icon," which he included with the screenshot. "Cardi B and her collaborators have used my artwork without any authorization, debasing its original meaning and only to amplify their image with a clear commercial purpose that has nothing to do with that path of social awareness that has always characterized my works," he said.
Palombo's lawyers also commented on the matter, saying they have written to Cardi B about their failure to contact Palombo about his work or credit him, alleging that she violated Meta's intellectual property rights policy with her costume of the Simpsons' blue-haired matriarch, Marge Simpson. However, at press time, neither Cardi B nor her representatives have responded to the accusations made by the artist.
"Marge Simpson Style Icon" was first featured in British Vogue, including 24 photos of Marge wearing famous clothing such as Madonna's Jean Paul Gaultier bustier and Geri Horner's Union Jack dress. Palombo created The Simpsons fan art collection to promote gender equality and women's emancipation. The artist, having attended Milan's Marangoni Institute, conjures creations that reimagines famous animated and fictional characters in various real-life scenarios, sometimes in controversial ones. He also created a piece showing characters from The Simpsons reenacting the May 2020 death of George Floyd. Additionally, he crafted artwork showing different Disney princesses going through a mastectomy.
Cardi B's Influencer Power
Cardi B, whose real name is Belcalis Marlenis Almánzar Cephus, generated considerable buzz when she posted the Marge Simpson-inspired dress-up on Instagram to her 144 million followers, garnering over 12,000 comments. She has long been known for her cosplay of famous characters from TV shows. Along with the image under question, she posted photos of herself wearing Marge Simpson's traditional green dress this past Halloween, one of which showed her dusting off her Grammy and another in front of Moe's Bar. In 2020, the rapper suited up as Marvel's Scarlet Witch for Halloween, following that up in 2021 with a Morticia Addams costume in homage to the character from The Addams Family.
Season 34 of The Simpsons is currently airing on Fox, having premiered this past September. This season will air the 750th episode of the popular animated series.
Source: Instagram