Hayley Williams brushes off controversy over Justin Bieber cover art
Paramore star Hayley Williams has brushed off suggestions Justin Bieber ripped off a piece of the rockers' fan artwork for the cover of his new single.
Eagle-eyed Paramore devotees raised questions about the inspiration behind Bieber's art for the track We Were Born For This on Monday (28Apr14), when they drew comparisons to the image used on the group's 2007 release, Riot, which featured the title in black and orange sketchy typography.
The Baby hitmaker's single uses the same colour scheme and style of
font, and it has since emerged that the exact artwork previously
appeared on the Tumblr.com profile of a Paramore fan using the
account imnotadisaster.
The striking similarities prompted a number of critics to take aim
at Bieber online, with one Paramore follower writing, "Laziest
artist award goes to Justin Bieber for literally googling pics for
his next single and picking out a paramore one", while another
tweeted, "So Justin Bieber's single cover was a Paramore fanart
(sic) from 2011. He cropped the watermark. I'm laughing so
hard."
The controversy has continued online, but singer Williams insists
she won't be drawn into the debate.
She shared her feelings with Twitter followers by posting a photo
of rockers New Found Glory rehearsing, alongside the caption,
"Crushing on the dude @newfoundglory practice while everyone's
freakin (sic) out about JB on twitter".
She also shared a screen grab from an episode of cartoon King of
the Hill, in which one character attempts to apologise to another,
only for him to respond, "I wasn't even listening".
In the accompanying caption, she writes, "My opinion on the whole
JB/artwork thing is basically this."
Bieber has yet to comment on the artwork scandal.