A lot of times, artists like to leave the meaning of their creations up to interpretation, but on occasion, they opt to make it more obvious. And nothing says “This is who my song is about” like casting someone who looks just like that person to star alongside you in a music video.
That’s what pop stars such as The Weeknd, Halsey, Selena Gomez and many, many more have all attempted in past music videos. Whether it’s to seemingly shade an ex (see: Justin Timberlake‘s “Cry Me a River” Britney Spears stand-in) or send a message to the one who got away (looking at you, Joshua Bassett and your “Doppelgänger” Olivia Rodrigo carbon copy), artists have been quite creative when it comes to using lookalikes to spice up their visual projects.
Not all music video lookalikes, however, have anything to do with an artist’s past romances — and not all music video lookalikes go over well. Kanye West, for example, faced quite a bit of backlash after he featured nude artificial figures of several well-known celebrities in his “Famous” music video, while DaBaby took some heat for using a Megan Thee Stallion-esque actress in a video for his track “Boogeyman,” on which he brags about having allegedly slept with the “WAP” rapper.
But whether a video elicits a positive or negative reaction from viewers, those with celebrity lookalikes almost always have one thing in common: They get people talking. Keep reading to see which pop stars have included doppelgängers of famous friends or foes in their music videos below.
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The Weeknd, ‘Save Your Tears’
Image Credit: Courtesy Photo If you thought The Weeknd’s leading lady and spontaneous dance partner in his 2021 “Save Your Tears” music video looked a little familiar, it’s probably because she’s a dead ringer for the musician’s ex-girlfriend Selena Gomez. The two pop stars dated for about 10 months back in 2017, leading many to believe that The Weeknd’s uncanny casting choice was more purposeful than coincidental.
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Selena Gomez, ‘Back To You’
Image Credit: Courtesy Photo Selena Gomez has been on both sides of the lookalike fence when it comes to music videos. Her 2018 music video for “Back to You” featured a leading man whose coiffed, sandy hair wasn’t entirely unlike that of Gomez’s very high-profile ex-boyfriend Justin Bieber, circa 2016.
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Zayn Malik, ‘Entertainer’
Image Credit: Courtesy Photo The leading lady in Zayn Malik’s 2018 “Entertainer” music video didn’t just look like a supermodel — she looked like the supermodel. It’s hard not to notice the similarities between the former One Direction member’s costar and his former flame Gigi Hadid, with whom he shares daughter Khai.
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Lil Durk, ‘Blocklist’
Image Credit: Courtesy Photo Smurkio first got into the business of Lil Durk impersonations when he starred in a viral prank video in 2022. After convincing a swarm of fans at a mall in Florida that he was the true Durk, the real one hired him to star in the music video for “Blocklist.”
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Taylor Swift, ‘You Need to Calm Down’
Image Credit: Courtesy Photo Taylor Swift’s star-studded 2019 music video for her Lover single “You Need to Calm Down” featured not one, not two, but eight lookalikes of famous female musicians. To illustrate her point about the dangers of pitting women against one another — “We see you over there on the internet/ Comparing all the girls who are killing it” — Tay enlisted seven drag queens and one Beyoncé impersonator to stand in a line on a stage, dressed as a handful of the world’s most famous ladies.
Jade Jolie was bestowed the honor of portraying Swift herself, while Tatianna replicated Ariana Grande’s look, Trinity the Tuck embodied Lady Gaga, Delta Work dressed as Adele, Trinity K. Bonet appeared as Cardi B, Adore Delano channeled Katy Perry, A’Keria Chanel Davenport fronted as Nicki Minaj, and Queen Bey was played by professional doppelgänger Riley Knoxx.
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Kanye West, ‘Famous’
Image Credit: Courtesy Photo Perhaps one of the most controversial uses of celebrity lookalikes in a music video, Kanye West’s “Famous” visual featured naked still figures made to look like his now ex-wife Kim Kardashian, Rihanna and Taylor Swift — who has condemned the project and once referred to it as “revenge porn.”
Kanye also included figures of Donald Trump, Caitlyn Jenner, George Bush, Bill Cosby, Ray J and Chris Brown.
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Joshua Bassett, ‘Doppelgänger’
Image Credit: Courtesy Photo Joshua Bassett starred alongside a doe-eyed brunette who happened to look a lot like Olivia Rodrigo — aka, his High School Musical: The Musical: The Series costar who skyrocketed to pop star status by penning smash hits “Drivers License” and “Good 4 U” about their alleged breakup. Is the lookalike in his February 2022 music video a coincidence? Maybe … but, come on. The song is literally titled “Doppelgänger.”
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Justin Timberlake, ‘Cry Me a River’
Image Credit: Courtesy Photo Justin Timberlake’s 2003 music video for “Cry Me a River” starred a blonde actress in a pageboy hat, who was widely believed for years to be an attempt at replicating the singer’s superstar ex-girlfriend Britney Spears.
In 2017, the video’s director Francis Lawrence confirmed outright that the project was meant to spotlight Timberlake’s high-profile relationship with Brit. “There was just this unspoken agreement between us,” he told Dazed. “Because (Justin and Britney) were on the same label; that’s part of the reason I thought the label would never, ever go for it. It was all about implying certain things, there’s little elements and details (in the video) that play throughout and tie it in.”
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Katy Perry, ‘Not the End of the World’
After years of being confused for Zooey Deschanel, Katy Perry cast the New Girl actress in the starring role of her intergalactic 2020 music video for “Not the End of the World.” When blue aliens descend on Earth to abduct the “Firework” singer, they mistake Deschanel with Perry, and take the She & Him singer instead. Easy mistake.
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Ed Sheeran, ‘Lego House’
Image Credit: Courtesy Photo Ed Sheeran’s 2011 music video for “Lego House,” as expected, starred one of England’s most famous redheads — just not the one you think. Rupert Grint, aka Ron Weasley in the Harry Potter films, made a feature cameo in the project as an obsessed Sheerio who takes his fandom to the extremes by breaking into Ed’s dressing room and walking out onstage at one of the singer’s concerts, pretending to be his idol, before two security guards tackle him to the ground.
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Halsey, ‘Without Me’
Image Credit: Courtesy Photo Halsey turned a lot of heads with the music video for her No. 1 hit “Without Me,” which starred a slick-haired actor who looked quite a bit like the singer’s ex-boyfriend G-Eazy. The video dropped in 2018, and Halsey has since confirmed that the song’s lyrics are indeed about the rapper.
“The biggest lesson I learned was to make art, not headlines,” Halsey told Glamour in 2019, talking specifically about the pressure they felt to comment publicly following the G-Eazy split. “Because it can become quite easy, in the social media generation, to go from being a musician to becoming a personality.”
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DaBaby, ‘Boogeyman’
Image Credit: Courtesy Photo DaBaby made headlines in September 2022 when he paired his song “Boogeyman” — which name drops and features explicit lyrics about Megan Thee Stallion — with a horror-themed music video starring a lookalike for the “Savage” rapper. In the video, Meg’s doppelgänger sneaks into a basement with her friends to summon the “Boogeyman,” played by DaBaby, who terrorizes each member of the group before pulling “Meg” under a bed.
