When Olivia Rodrigo's first hit came out, her entire album hadn't even been released yet. But the teaser had fans riled up early on. When her debut album, 'Sour,' finally dropped, fans went nuts. Unfortunately, so did critics.
A lot of critics disliked Olivia's lyrics because they were perceived as juvenile, and her songs definitely aren't for everyone (though many teens seem to relate). Plagiarism, however, was an accusation that fans and critics alike took seriously.
Courtney Love Wasn't Happy With Olivia
Courtney Love accused Olivia Rodrigo of copying album art from her band Hole's long-ago release. And sure, there are some similarities; prom queens with tear-stained faces holding flowers graced both Hole's album cover and Olivia's special release for 'Sour Prom.' But most folks -- including Olivia herself -- brushed off the accusation as no big deal.
That didn't help to calm Courtney, however, who, after bashing Olivia on social media, literally told the young artist to send her flowers to apologize. In a later interview, when asked about what went down, Olivia said she was "flattered" that Courtney knew who she was, and smiled it off. That, of course, was after she related Cardi B's wise advice that she ignore the haters and not let anyone "restrict" her voice.
True, there may be some similarities between the album art of Hole and Olivia Rodrigo's short video. While Courtney Love's intentions and interpretation of the situation could be questioned, a lot of fans have wondered why the snafu wasn't avoided in the first place. To that end, there's a pretty simple answer.
Olivia Rodrigo Was A Literal Teenager
Remember that song 'Drivers License' that totally blew up and made Disney alum Olivia a household name? She penned the song right around the time she actually got her driver's license... At age sixteen.
She even admitted to making grammatical errors in the song, and of course, that little punctuation mistake in the song title, too. Clearly, she's a brilliant lyricist and musician (she does play instruments, in addition to singing), but Olivia was still just a kid when her first song gave her a big break.
And it's her age and, in general, naivety that can explain the whole album cover issue. Because how else would Olivia ever connect her art with Hole's, or realize that she was edging into possible copyright issues?
Doesn't Olivia Have A Team For This Stuff?
Regardless of whether it's a legal problem or not (and it definitely seems like Hole didn't copyright their thematic design for their album cover -- anyone can be a crying prom queen), someone older and wiser probably should have told Olivia to dial back her promotional materials (or choose another theme for 'Sour').
The thing is, she's been making a whole lot of choices completely on her own, which completely explains why she may have missed some cues when it comes to handling herself in the industry.
In fact, in an interview with GQ, Olivia literally stated that someone once asked her to decide on her branding -- at age fourteen. Rodrigo admitted that she found it exceedingly difficult to "cultivate an image," something that she still struggled with as of that interview, in August of 2021. Part of the problem? Just how much creative freedom she has.
Creative Freedom Might Be A Curse
In that same GQ interview, Olivia elaborated on how much creative freedom she maintains when it comes to her songs (which she mostly writes herself), her music videos, and the rest of her image. And while she admitted to having a "team" that would tell her if, say, she was trending online (whether for good or bad reasons), she seems to hold the creative reins.
That fact alone suggests there's not someone signing off on Olivia's choices, and that she's able to stand her ground to determine what she wants. It also seems like it might be a curse, though; without multiple people putting their opinions in, there may be some things missing that Rodrigo doesn't consider. Like a too-similar resemblance of her 'Sour' "cover" to a band's actual album cover.
And since Olivia has previously explained that she has had all manner of musical and creative influences, including musicians from Courtney Love's earlier era, maybe she's taking inspiration a bit too literally at some turns.
Still, while a team, in theory, could have helped avoid ruffling Courtney Love's feathers in the first place, it can be argued that Olivia did literally nothing wrong in the first place. It's just possible that her team could have helped insulate her against some of the hate from another artist had they guided her in another direction.