Retail giant H&M has faced tons of criticism over their lawsuit against street artist REVOK, getting called out by artists like KAWS as well as producer Swizz Beatz, and now their claims that they dropped the suit have been debunked as well, according to Juxtapoz.
After sending the Swedish company a cease & desist for shooting in front of a mural of his in Brooklyn, Jason "REVOK" Williams was met with a lawsuit claiming the art in question was "the product of criminal conduct," thereby giving him no copyright rights. H&M would eventually claim it took steps to drop the lawsuit against the artist and even seemed apologetic for filing it in the first place. "H&M respects the creativity and uniqueness of artists, no matter the medium," they said in an official statement. "We should have acted differently in our approach to this matter. It was never our intention to set a precedent concerning public art or to influence the debate on the legality of street art. As a result, we are withdrawing the complaint filed in court."
That statement would have been all well and good if that's what they had done, as REVOK's attorney Jeff Gluck confirmed to Juxtapoz that the lawsuit was still in progress. “This evening I spoke with counsel for H&M. They informed me that they are NOT, in fact, dismissing the lawsuit,” he said. This was, of course, hours after the statement claiming that the case would be dismissed went up on the company's Instagram page.
Producer Swizz Beatz was already suspicious of the claim, demanding proof in his comment under their statement. "Can you prove you completely dropped the case [sic] publically? Or are you only willing to drop the case if the artist complies with your stipulations and continues to work with you?" he said, also stressing, "creatives should get what they deserve." Swizz was swiftly blocked from H&M's account shortly after that. Guilty conscience?
Perhaps we're meant to assume that the company had a change of heart about the debacle and were not as moved and remorseful as their statement let on. Complex reached out to a rep for REVOK for comment but at press time, have not heard back.
