Lolita actress Dominique Swain has seemingly accused Sabrina Carpenter of copying an iconic scene from the film – despite the singer having previously denied taking any inspiration.
Dominique, 44, portrayed Lolita in the 1997 adaptation of Vladimir Nabokov’s 1955 novel of the same name, starring alongside Jeremy Irons as Professor Humbert Humbert.
Directed by Adrian Lyne and written by Stephen Schiff, the movie follows Humbert Humbert, who is sexually obsessed with 12-year-old Lolita.
Taking to Instagram on Sunday, actress Dominique hinted that Sabrina took inspiration from the film in a previous photoshoot by Zoë Ghertner for W magazine.
In a post uploaded to her profile, she shared a side-by-side comparison of two photos: one of Sabrina lying in grass under a sprinkler, and a movie still of Dominique doing the same thing.
Captioning the post, she asked: ‘Hmmmm, does this look familiar? @sabrinacarpenter.’
Social media users rallied around Dominique and also pointed out how glaringly similar Sabrina’s shoot was to the film scene, with one going as far as saying it was ‘fully intentional.’
Taking to the comments, one said: ‘She won’t admit it!! She said it wasn’t her choice but the photographers?? Like girl it’s an iconic scene, I know you know!’
Sabrina Carpenter has been accused of of copying an iconic scene from Lolita
Lolita actress Dominique Swain mocked the Espresso singer on Instagram for a recent photoshoot
‘It’s cowardly to take clear inspiration from such an iconic film and performance and then turn around and say “it was never on my mood board and never will be” like what??
‘Especially when the aesthetic and energy are being capitalized on,’ another said. ‘Give Dominique her flowers.’
A third said: ‘Oh it’s fully intentional.’
‘Same dress color and everything same pose same lighting same set up like the only thing missing is the braids,’ another observed.
A fifth penned: ‘People are allowed to take inspiration from any movie or book they wish. Where she went wrong was denying this was inspired by Lolita. Just own it!’
Sabrina recently defended the photo from her September 2024 W magazine spread after similar comparisons were made on social media.
TikTok user @arcafan999 re-shared a side-by-side comparison of two photos.
The post was captioned, ‘gross,’ and the social media user asked in a video, ‘What the eff is this?’
Dominique hinted that Sabrina took inspiration from the Lolita in a photoshoot for W magazine
Captioning the post, she asked: ‘Hmmmm, does this look familiar? @sabrinacarpenter’
Dominique starred as the lead role in the titular film, released in 1997
Sabrina denied the Lolita inspiration, writing in the comments: ‘I’ve never seen this movie. It’s never been on my mood board and never would be.’
However, the critic didn’t back down and instead doubled down on the judgement.
In a comment that has garnered nearly 9,000 likes, the person quoted a line from Sabrina’s song Nonsense, which she tweaked for a Mexican audience while on tour, writing: ‘”Fully grown but I look like a niña,” yeah sure.’
Per an account from Billboard, the complete lyric Sabrina used in the show was: ‘I’m full grown but I look like a niña/Come put something big in my casita/Mexico, I think you are bonita!’
Singer-songwriter Sabrina has largely used her sex appeal to market her music and keep fans tantalized.
It’s never been more evident than throughout her Short n’ Sweet Tour, which kicked off last September and runs through this November.
Audiences have come to expect simulated sex acts and cheekily engineered lyrics from the petite performer during the stage show.
Footage from the set contain concertgoers reveling during these moments, but Sabrina has also received criticism for the NSFW display.
She starred alongside Jeremy Irons in the movie – the book’s second adaptation – by Adrian Lyne
Addressing the hate in her RS cover story, Carpenter noted that the sex-centric songs are the ones most beloved by fans.
‘It’s always so funny to me when people complain,’ she said. ‘They’re like, “All she does is sing about this.” But those are the songs that you’ve made popular. Clearly you love sex. You’re obsessed with it.’
Referencing one song in particular, she added: ‘It’s in my show. There’s so many more moments than the “Juno” positions, but those are the ones you post every night and comment on. I can’t control that.
‘If you come to the show, you’ll [also] hear the ballads, you’ll hear the more introspective numbers.’
The music artist reflected: ‘I find irony and humor in all of that, because it seems to be a recurring theme. I’m not upset about it, other than I feel mad pressure to be funny sometimes.’
