French singer Amanda Lear publicly accused American pop star Miley Cyrus of plagiarism on September 21, 2026, claiming Cyrus’s new track Redlights
copies her 1978 hit The Sphinx
. While Lear stated she welcomes the similarity and has no personal plans to sue, her record label Universal is reportedly pursuing formal recognition of plagiarism.
The Plagiarism Accusation Over Bass Persuades
Shortly after the release, Amanda Lear took to social media to highlight what she described as an unmistakable musical overlap between the new track Redlights
and her own 1978 disco track The Sphinx.
Lear’s public reaction was colorful and direct. Writing online, she paired her remarks with provocative hashtags suggesting copying and theft.
Amanda Lear thanked Miley via Finreport for copying her song The Sphinx and added that she was flattered by it.
Universal Pursues Recognition While Lear Steps Back
Despite the sharp language on social media, Lear clarified that she holds no personal animosity toward the American artist and does not intend to lead a courtroom battle herself. Speaking to the Agence France-Presse on Monday, she emphasized that the decision to pursue legal recognition rests with the corporate stakeholders behind her catalog.
Amanda Lear stated via Finreport that she had never been inclined toward lawsuits, but her record label Universal and the publishers of the song for which she wrote the lyrics wanted formal recognition of plagiarism.
Lear reiterated that her initial social media post was intended merely to draw attention to the situation with a touch of flattery rather than an explicit threat of retaliation or an immediate lawsuit.
Decades of Pop Culture History Behind the Disco Singer
The friction brings together two vastly different eras of pop music stardom. Amanda Lear built her fame as a fixture of European pop and disco culture, releasing more than 20 albums characterized by her distinctively deep, raspy vocal delivery where she often spoke lyrics rather than singing in a conventional style.
Before establishing her recording career, Lear worked as a prominent fashion model and served as a muse to surrealist painter Salvador Dalí. Her cultural footprint extends deep into the 1960s and 1970s London scene, where her association with Rolling Stones guitarist Brian Jones inspired the band’s 1967 track Miss Amanda Jones
.
On the other side of the dispute stands Miley Cyrus, who transitioned from her early days as a Disney Channel star in Hannah Montana into a leading contemporary pop force known for global anthems like Wrecking Ball
and Flowers
.
What Happens Next as Publishers Review the Tracks
With Universal and the publishers of the song pushing for formal acknowledgment of plagiarism, the trajectory of the dispute now depends entirely on whether legal representatives decide to formalize a copyright claim or reach an out-of-court settlement.
Neither Cyrus nor her representatives have issued a public response to the copyright assertions or the label’s demands regarding Redlights, leaving the next move in the hands of the corporate music publishers.
