Plagiarism allegations[edit]
In response to similarities between the Grande video and the music video accompanying Australian band Safia's single "You Are the One", Grande and Landis were accused of intellectual property theft. The controversy centered on similarities in the shared apocalyptic themes and stylistic format (a single, tracking shot) as well as parallels in the beginning of both videos (where a female protagonist exits a vehicle despite the protests of the male driver) and final shot (a lover's embrace as the world comes to an end around them). Members of the band described the similarities as an instance of when "big labels and/or big film firms steal ideas from small independent creatives who are trying really hard to make something different for a change." Despite acknowledging similarities between the two videos, Landis denied that his ideas are stolen from them