Taylor Swift Responds to Accusations of “Stealing” Her folklore Logo From a Black Designer
In a statement issued by Taylor Swift’s team, it was announced they were removing “the” from “the folklore” out of respect for a Black artist and her company
Taylor Swift | folklore | Folklore merch logo
Taylor Swift‘s team responded to accusations she stole the folklore merch logo from a Black designer.
In a statement issued to Good Morning America on Tuesday, the singer’s rep responded to artist Amira Rasool‘s accusations. “Yesterday, we were made aware of a complaint that the specific use of the word ‘the’ before ‘folklore album’ on some of the folklore album merchandise was of concern,” they stated. “Absolutely no merchandise using ‘the’ before the words ‘folklore album’ has been manufactured or sent out.”
The statement continued, “In good faith, we honored her request and immediately notified everyone who had ordered merchandise with the word ‘the’ preceding ‘folklore album’ that they will now receive their order with the design change.”
Rasool later expressed gratitude on Twitter to Swift and her team for resolving the issue. She said, “I commend Taylor’s team for recognizing the damage the merchandise caused to my company @TheFolklore’s brand. I recognize that she has been a strong advocate for women protecting their creative rights, so it was good to see her team is on the same page.”
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Beth Garrabrant
The owner of The Folklore brand, a company that exclusively sells goods from Africa and the diaspora per its website, expressed her concerns that Swift’s merch logo bared striking similarities to her own. She tweeted on July 24, “Wait hold up. Taylor Swift, it’s one thing to use the name “Folklore,” but we’re out here stealing Black women’s logos too?”
“I am sharing my story to bring light to the trend of large companies/celebrities copying the work of small minority-owned business owners. I am not going to let this blatant theft go unchecked,” she added on Instagram.
After the issue was resolved the next day, Rasool told her thousands of followers that her lawyers were in communication with Taylor’s to determine the “necessary next steps to make this situation right.”
