Sunny Leone gets trolled for copying artwork, French artist blasts her on social media

Actress Sunny Leone recently got trolled and received backlash for apparently 'copying' an artwork from French artist's original work. Later, she used that painting to raise money for charity. According to reports, the artwork was originally painted by a French illustrator, Malika Favre. 

Later, Sunny Leone faced a lot of heat for allegedly stealing an artist's original work of art, and posting it without giving due credit. She shared that picture saying, "Finally done! Giving this one for auction to help raise money for cancer! In loving memory of those who are no longer with us! With each brushstroke, I thought of you and how much I will miss you! Love you! [sic]."

 

 

 

 

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We are all for charity, but stealing an artists’ original work — without credit — and auctioning it off for charity (as your own) is just dirty. . . Left: original by @malikafavre; right: wtf by @sunnyleone . #dietsabya #gandi #copy #art

A post shared by Diet Sabya (@dietsabya) on Oct 28, 2019 at 9:16am PDT

Things turned awkward for Sunny when the French illustrator, an Instagram account known for calling out fashion faux pas, posted Sunny's work and revealed that a French artist created the original piece.

The Instagram account criticised Sunny Leone for terming her act of "stealing an artist's original work" without giving credit as "dirty". "We are all for charity, but stealing an artists' original work — without credit — and auctioning it off for charity (as your own) is just dirty. [sic]," Diet Sabya wrote.

In her defence, Sunny wrote that she just created the artwork for a social cause, and nowhere had she tried to claim it as her original idea.

Sunny Leone's Clarification
"Hello. Just to give you the correct information, I was given a photograph of this piece of art. I then decided to paint it! At no time did I claim to come up with the idea. I simply painted a piece of art that I saw and loved. It should be taken as a compliment as it was being donated to cancer patients for charity. Nothing more and nothing less. Sorry you don't like the version that I choose to create while helping children in Need. The painting was not about you or I. It was about trying to help !!!! Best of luck !!!! Keep creating [sic]."
 

The artist soon responded, "Sunny Leone a credit would have been the minimum... Intellectual property is a thing you know? What if I didn't want a copy of my work to be copied by you and auctioned? The cause is commendable, the attitude not so much."

Many stood by Sunny's noble cause. However, a few slammed her.