Imitation vs Inspiration: Drag Queens accuse Papaya Ex of always copying their pictures

From Beyoncé to Nicki Minaj to Cardi B, many Nigerian celebrities copy their outfits and poses. While some are flattered, Drag Queens apparently do not think imitation is the best form of flattery.

Read: 5 times Nigerian celebrities recreated looks from foreign celebrities.

Drag queen, Sminty B said this about Nigerian influencer Papaya ex (Raheem Abike) on Twitter: “1.2 million followers, 208k likes, a whole team behind her and not a single person thought to credit me or my creative team at all.. like girl be so fr”.

Another Drag queen Dahlia Sin said Papaya has been copying her poses and looks, “This girl is fucking insane! Like how unoriginal are you? Like I wonder how many other people she is stealing looks from”

Perhaps these drag queens put a lot of thought into their art form and want to be credited, since Papaya has a relatively huge online presence, but most celebrities won’t be bothered.

If anything, when Nigerian celebrities copy their look and poses, it’s seen as fan art. Cardi B for instance praised Erica Nlewedim and Chi Chi when they struck similar poses to theirs. 

However, Papaya’s stylist, Maklinscott might share some blame since he may be the one who comes up with the idea.

Since clothes and poses are usually not copyrighted, imitation is flattery, but giving some credit to your inspiration doesn’t hurt either.

Papaya doesn't have some of the pictures on her page anymore and her stylist has edited the caption and given credit to his inspiration.