Miley Cyrus sued over ‘Flowers’ — accused of copying this Bruno Mars hit

Miley Cyrus sued over ‘Flowers’ — accused of copying this Bruno Mars hit

Miley Cyrus says she can buy herself flowers — but were they stolen flowers?

The 31-year-old singer is being sued for allegedly copying Bruno Mars’ 2013 song “When I Was Your Man” on her 2023 Grammy Award-winning track “Flowers.”

The Post obtained the lawsuit, which was filed by Tempo Music Investments in a Los Angeles court Monday.

Miley Cyrus at the 2024 Grammy Awards. Getty Images for The Recording Academy
Miley Cyrus at the 2024 Grammy Awards. Getty Images for The Recording Academy
Bruno Mars at the 2018 Billboard Music Awards. WireImage
Bruno Mars at the 2018 Billboard Music Awards. WireImage

Mars, 38, is not a plaintiff in the lawsuit.

The suit said there are “striking similarities” between the two songs and that Cyrus’ track “would not exist without” Mars’ ballad.

“Any fan of Bruno Mars’ ‘When I Was Your Man’ knows that Miley Cyrus’ ‘Flowers’ did not achieve all of that success on its own,” the documents state. “‘Flowers’ duplicates numerous melodic, harmonic, and lyrical elements of ‘When I Was Your Man.'”

Miley Cyrus. mileycyrus/Youtube
Miley Cyrus. mileycyrus/Youtube
Miley Cyrus. Marcell Rév
Miley Cyrus. Marcell Rév

Cyrus is named as a defendant alongside “Flowers” co-writers Gregory Hein and Michael Pollack. Sony Music Publishing and Apple are among the other defendants.

Tempo Music Investments claim in the docs they “acquired the copyright interests” to Mars’ song “in or around 2020.”

Bruno Mars performing at the 2021 American Music Awards. via Getty Images
Bruno Mars performing at the 2021 American Music Awards. via Getty Images

The company wants Cyrus and the rest of the defendants to stop “reproducing, distributing, or publicly performing ‘Flowers.'” The plaintiff is also seeking an unknown amount in damages.

The Post has reached out to reps for Cyrus and Mars.

Bruno Mars at the 2016 American Music Awards. WireImage
Bruno Mars at the 2016 American Music Awards. WireImage
Miley Cyrus out in New York City. Felipe Ramales / SplashNews.com
Miley Cyrus out in New York City. Felipe Ramales / SplashNews.com

The lyrics to “Flowers” appear to directly reference “When I Was Your Man,” although that’s never been confirmed by Cyrus herself.

In his song, Mars sings, “Too dumb to realize that I should’ve bought you flowers.” Miley retorts in her track, “I can buy myself flowers.”

“And held your hand,” Mars continues in his ballad, as Cyrus says in hers, “And hold my own hand.”

Bruno Mars at the 2017 Grammy Awards. Matt Sayles/Invision/AP
Bruno Mars at the 2017 Grammy Awards. Matt Sayles/Invision/AP

Cyrus released “Flowers” in January 2023 as the lead single off her eighth studio album, “Endless Summer Vacation.” The song won Cyrus her first Grammys for Record of the Year and Best Pop Solo Performance in February.

Since “Flowers” came out, fans have been convinced that the song is about Cyrus’ ex-husband Liam Hemsworth, whom she was married to from 2018 to 2019.

Liam Hemsworth, Miley Cyrus in Malibu on June 6, 2019. Getty Images
Liam Hemsworth, Miley Cyrus in Malibu on June 6, 2019. Getty Images

The former Disney Channel star was asked about the speculation in an interview with British Vogue last May.

“I never need to be a master at the craft of tricking an audience,” Cyrus said. “It will set itself on fire all by itself.”

Miley Cyrus at the 2024 Grammy Awards. FilmMagic
Miley Cyrus at the 2024 Grammy Awards. FilmMagic

She also revealed that she originally wrote the single “in a really different way.”

“The chorus was originally: ‘I can buy myself flowers, write my name in the sand, but I can’t love me better than you can,'” she recalled. “It used to be more, like, 1950s. The saddest song. Like: ‘Sure, I can be my own lover, but you’re so much better.’”