American content creator Crystal Nicole has accused Nigerian actress Uche Montana of allegedly reproducing one of her original videos and using the recreated content in a commercial collaboration without adequately acknowledging its source.

Crystal explained that she initially chose not to address the matter publicly because she recognises that creators often draw ideas and inspiration from one another. However, she said the similarities between her original work and Uche’s version were too extensive to be considered ordinary inspiration.

“This is not inspiration, this is plagiarism,” she said.

According to Crystal, the actress allegedly followed the structure of her original video closely, including elements such as the wording, presentation style, sequence and creative concept. She further claimed that the recreated version was subsequently used as part of a paid partnership with a brand.

Crystal questions the use of her work

Crystal said she eventually reached out to Uche after speaking publicly about the issue. However, she claimed she was dissatisfied with the actress’ response that the matter should be approached respectfully.

She further alleged that Uche initially modified the caption accompanying the content to acknowledge her by adding the words “inspired by Crystal Nicole.”

However, Crystal claimed the acknowledgement was later removed and replaced with Uche’s name, which she said further heightened her concerns about how her original idea was being credited.

The content creator maintained that simply labelling another creator’s work as “inspired by” is not enough when the resulting content closely mirrors the original.

According to Crystal, genuine inspiration should involve taking an existing idea and developing it into something new rather than reproducing the original concept, wording and creative execution.

She said the situation was particularly frustrating because of the time and effort she invests in developing original content and concepts.

Crystal maintained that creators deserve appropriate recognition when their original ideas are used, particularly when those ideas are subsequently turned into commercial opportunities.

The controversy has renewed conversations online about originality, creative ownership, proper attribution and the boundaries between drawing inspiration from another creator’s work and reproducing it.