All the Stars by Kendrick Lamar & SZA is currently at number 2 on this week’s Weekly Top 20. The lead single to the soundtrack album to Black Panther, ‘All the Stars’ has enjoyed a great run on the charts until news of a lawsuit came out.
British-Liberian artist Lina Iris Viktor, who is currently based in New York City, claimed that some of her artwork was used in the music video to All the Stars without permission. She said that her series of paintings called “Constellations” was put up in the video without her consent.
‘Constellations’, 2016 by Lina Iris Viktor (24k gold, acrylic, gouache, print on matte canvas)
According to The New York Times, Viktor had refused the representatives of the movie Black Panther when they asked permission to use her artwork in the movie back in 2016. The representatives asked twice, asking Viktor to lend her work or create new work for the movie, an offer she refused.
However, the production designers of Black Panther still took Viktor’s style and put it all over the film. According to Billboard, Viktor says [the producers] used her art anyway, copying the “unique look and feel” of her works. But it was when Kendrick Lamar and SZA uploaded the music video to All the Stars that Viktor had enough.
Her Constellation series were obviously used without her consent and now she’s suing for damages and an injunction prohibiting Kendrick and SZA from using more of her artwork to promote the soundtrack.
Here’s what Viktor saw in the music video.
