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Dua Lipa Sues Samsung for $15 Million Over Alleged Unauthorised TV Packaging Use
Dua Lipa has sued Samsung for $15 million, alleging it used her image on TV packaging without permission or payment.
Dua Lipa has filed a $15million, or £11million, lawsuit against Samsung, accusing the company of using her face to help sell televisions without her permission.
The complaint, lodged in California on Friday, May 8, says the electronic giant began printing a photograph of Lipa on the cardboard packaging of its TVs last year and did so without paying her or asking for consent. According to the suit, once Lipa found out, she told Samsung to stop. The company, per Variety, was allegedly “dismissive and callous” in response.
“Ms. Lipa’s face was prominently used for a mass marketing campaign for a consumer product without her knowledge, without consideration, and as to which she had no say, control, or input whatsoever,” the lawsuit states. “Ms. Lipa did not allow and would not have allowed this use.”
The filing says Lipa owns the copyright to the image in question, a backstage photo taken at Austin City Limits Festival in 2024. It also argues that Samsung benefited from the impression that she had endorsed the product, even though she had not. That point matters in the broader logic of celebrity branding: the complaint describes Lipa as someone with a “premium brand” who is “highly selective” about product endorsements, which is precisely why the alleged use is framed as harmful rather than merely unauthorized.
The lawsuit also points to posts on X that, according to the complaint, show some buyers were nudged by the idea that Lipa was attached to the product. One quoted commenter wrote, “I wasn’t even planning on buying a tv but I saw the box so I decided to get it,” while another said, “I’d get that TV just because Dua Lipa is on it. That’s how obsessed I am. That’s how much I love her.” A third added that if you need to sell something, “Just put a picture of Dua Lipa on it.”
In legal terms, the complaint cites copyright infringement, a violation of California’s right of publicity statute, a federal Lanham Act claim, and trademark claims. Samsung has not yet commented on the lawsuit.
News of the filing arrives during a busy stretch for Lipa away from the courtroom. She recently curated the Southbank Centre’s 2026 London Literature Festival, and earlier this week made a surprise appearance during Tame Impala’s headline show at London’s O2.
