Miley Cyrus Sued, Accused of Duplicating Bruno Mars Song

(Getty Images)

Miley Cyrus is being sued for the “striking similarities” between her 2023 hit “Flowers” and Bruno Mars’ 2013 track “When I Was Your Man.”

Those similarities were highlighted by Tempo Music Investments — which owns a share of the copyright in Mars’ hit after it acquired songwriter Philip Lawrence’s music catalog — in a lawsuit filed Monday in a Los Angeles court and obtained by People.

“It is undeniable based on the combination and number of similarities between the two recordings that ‘Flowers’ would not exist without ‘When I Was Your Man,’ ” the documents state, adding that “Flowers” “duplicates numerous melodic, harmonic, and lyrical elements” of Mars’ track, according to People.

“Accordingly, Plaintiff brings this action for copyright infringement arising out of Defendants’ unauthorized reproduction, distribution and exploitation of ‘When I Was Your Man,’ ” the complaint adds.

The lawsuit names “Flowers” songwriters Gregory Hein and Michael Pollack, who co-wrote the song with Cyrus, as defendants. The suit also lists Sony Music Publishing and Apple, but Mars is not named as a plaintiff. Tempo Music claims in the documents that it acquired “the copyright interests” to Mars’ hit, which was co-written by Mars, Ari Levine, Lawrence, and Andrew Wyatt, “in or around 2020.”

Among accusations, the suit states that “the opening vocal line from the chorus of ‘Flowers’ begins and ends on the same chords as the opening vocal line in the verse of ‘When I Was Your Man.’ “

Tempo Music Investments is asking Cyrus, 31, and the other defendants in the lawsuit to stop reproducing, distributing, or performing “Flowers.” They are also seeking damages, but the amount hasn’t been decided.

The lawsuit follows Cyrus’ win for Record of the Year at the 2024 Grammys on Feb. 4, where she also earned Best Pop Solo Performance for “Flowers.” The song dominated the U.S. Billboard charts for eight weeks and set a record on Spotify.

On Jan. 13, Cyrus celebrated the one-year anniversary of the song’s release on Instagram.

“One year ago today ‘Flowers’ started making people happy & that makes me happy. Love you. Thank you,” she wrote.