• On Tuesday, an artist named Jackye Gutierrez accused makeup brand Anastasia Beverly Hills of copying photographs they'd taken in 2018.
• Gutierrez's photos depict them surrounded by butterflies and flowers while their head is in a fishbowl. The beauty brand's images show Norvina, the president of the company, in a similar pose.
• Gutierrez, who is transgender and identifies as queer, said on Instagram that the photos "are not meant to be used for makeup campaigns," as they were designed to showcase the stories of "many trans queer black and brown folks." 
• Norvina responded on Twitter, saying she was inspired by "retro animations" and "legit didn't know this artist existed."
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A major beauty brand is being accused of plagiarism on social media by an independent artist.

On Tuesday, Jackye Gutierrez took to Instagram and Twitter with claims that Norvina, the president of Anastasia Beverly Hills, copied photographs they'd created in 2018. Gutierrez said Norvina's images, which were used for a brand campaign, looked strikingly similar to theirs, and then asked to receive credit and compensation.

"You are all a bunch of phonies and should be ashamed of yourselves," Gutierrez wrote on Instagram. "You stole my art. You copied my work. You took art from a brown queer trans persyn and I deserve credit for this artwork I put my f------ life and soul into."

In the caption of their post, artist Jackye Gutierrez, who is transgender and identifies as queer, said their photos 'are not meant to be used for makeup campaigns'

Instead, Gutierrez, who shared a post on their Instagram Stories to say they prefer they/them pronouns, said the photos were designed to showcase the stories of "many trans queer black and brown folks." 

"These photos are not meant to be used for makeup campaigns — these photos tell stories," they continued. "They tell my f------ life. They tell the life of many trans queer black and brown folks. How dare you take my art and use it as your new makeup line."

Gutierrez also demanded credit and payment for their work.

"Pay me!!!!!! Learn to give credit," they said. "Learn to respect. Learn to make room for black and brown trans queer artists. Give me the credit and recognition I deserve!!!!!!! Pay me!!!!! My photo is on the left!!!!!!!"

Read more: How Anastasia Beverly Hills came to be the beauty world's eyebrow authority

Gutierrez accused Norvina and Anastasia Beverly Hills of copying two of their photos

The artist shared screenshots of both images, which depict a person surrounded by flowers and butterflies while their head is in a fishbowl, on Instagram.

Norvina appears to have commented on one of Gutierrez's photos to say that while she had never seen their art before, she's aware that she's not the first to have come up with the idea of putting a fishbowl on their head

On their Instagram story, Gutierrez shared a screenshot that seemingly showed Norvina responding to their claims in an Instagram comment. It's unclear as to which photo Norvina commented on.

"Hello this is my first time finding out about you through all the comments," Norvina wrote on Instagram. "I'm sorry you feel that you were copied when you were not. I have never seen your art before."

Norvina then complimented Gutierrez's work, calling it "absolutely gorgeous." Still, she stood by her initial comment and continued to defend herself.

"I have to be incredibly open and just say this is not what you're assuming that it is," Norvina said. "I don't copy people's artwork, although I don't think I am the first person to think about putting a fishbowl on my head, clearly as that idea is out there."

"Spongebob did it too," she continued. "Regardless, I thought it was important for me to come here and clarify it as I have in my comments, but I do have to stand firm my intentions and those of my team's."

Later, Norvina made more public comments on Twitter, where she shared a 'mood board,' or collection of inspirational images, that she says she used to conceptualize her photoshoot

"I'm a little late to the controversy in my comments so let me just add my mood board here that was used to create the current campaign look, which I absolutely love," Norvina wrote. "As you can see, the bowl-over-the-head concept comes from retro animations."

When a fan of Norvina's said they were first concerned by the artist's claims, the Anastasia Beverly Hills president said she "had no clue it was happening," otherwise she would have replied sooner.

Norvina later asked for Twitter users to stop "harassing" her over the images and said that she'd never heard of Gutierrez prior to this incident.

Gutierrez shared an update about the situation on their Instagram story Wednesday afternoon

"What a great day to be alive and see all this support and love being sent my way," Gutierrez wrote. "Loads of black and brown artists get their art/work stolen/copied every single day by these big brands/companies only for them to get no credit/compensation and overall exploited."

They continued to say that small artists don't typically have the platforms or resources needed to fully express their creativity and that brands copying their work can be extremely harmful.

"Yes, my art was copied/stolen and yes, you hurt my feelings and yes, I'm still very alive and well," Gutierrez said. "My work is so beautiful that a billionaire thought it would be OK to take it from me and use it and call it theirs and continue to play victim when confronted about holding themselves accountable for their wrongdoings."

While Norvina's mother, Anastasia Soare, was estimated to have a net worth of approximately $1 billion in 2018, it's unclear how much money Norvina actually makes.

"I'm not here to pity you nor am I here for you to make me feel small," Gutierrez said. "I'm powerful enough to speak up about this s--- because it's getting really old."

Representatives for Gutierrez, Norvina, and Anastasia Beverly Hills did not immediately reply to Insider's request for comment.

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