Amira Rasool expresses her gratitude after the 'Cardigan' singer agrees to remove 'the' from the merchandise of her new album following complaint from the owner of a website with the same name.

• Jul 30, 2020

AceShowbiz - Taylor Swift is not letting her creativity interfere with another artist's business. The singer has agreed to change the name and logo design of her "Folklore" album merchandise after she was called out by a black-owned fashion label over similarities with the name of the website.

In a statement issued to "Good Morning America" on Tuesday, July 28, a representative for the 30-year-old star stated, "Yesterday, we were made aware of a complaint that the specific use of the word 'the' before 'folklore album' on some of the 'folklore' album merchandise was of concern." Making sure that the plagiarism allegations have been taken under control, the rep stressed, "Absolutely no merchandise using 'the' before the words 'folklore album' has been manufactured or sent out."

The rep went on explaining, "In good faith, we honored her request and immediately notified everyone who had ordered merchandise with the word 'the' preceding 'folklore album' that they will now receive their order with the design change."

Artist Amira Rasool, the owner of The Folklore, a website for African apparel and accessories designers, has since expressed her gratitude for Taylor's good faith in handling the issue. "I commend Taylor's team for recognizing the damage the merchandise caused to my company @TheFolklore's brand. I recognize that she has been a strong advocate for women protecting their creative rights, so it was good to see her team is on the same page," she said on Twitter.

Amira previously explained the issue over the similarities between Taylor's logo for her album merchandise and the website's name. "The main thing was having 'The Folklore' when the album was just called 'Folklore'," she told Women's Wear Daily. She also pointed out that the way the word "the" is positioned vertically in the logo is too similar to her own.

While the "Cardigan" singer's team responded immediately to Amira's complaint, she added, "I commend them for removing that, but I think there's a larger conversation that needs to be had. It's not just damaging to one Black woman, it's all the brands that we work with."

Amira additionally said that Taylor's fans had attacked her for speaking out, "calling me a b***h and a liar" and accusing her of being merely an attention seeker. "I think there was a lot of damage to my brand for me speaking out. I don't think I deserved that," Amira claimed before Taylor's rep released the statement.