A week before Beyoncé rocked the world with Lemonade, she posted a trailer for the visual album on YouTube.
But according to a new lawsuit filed by an independent filmmaker, the high profile trailer totally ripped off his 2014 short film.
Matthew Fulks, who describes himself as both an indie filmmaker and creative director at Louisville based news station WDRB, claims Sony Music, Columbia Records, and even Bey’s Parkwood Entertainment were aware of his short film Palinoia before filming Lemonade.
Fulks believes several elements of the Lemonade trailer were jacked from Palinoia – including visual similarities like “graffiti and persons with heads down,” “red persons with eyes obscured,” “parking garage,” “black and white eyes,” “the grass scene,” “side-lit ominous figures,” and more.
Not only is Fulks seeking profits “attributed to exploitation of his work,” but he also wants a cut of Lemonade sales.
Check out the supposed similarities after the cut.